Stigmatisation is always one of the biggest hindrances to fighting off an epidemic, and since the Ebola hit there has been several incidents lumping people from Africa into one bracket and treating them like they all have Ebola.

The latest incident involves two Senegalese American kids, who got beaten and called names at school just because they were unfortunate to have African ancestry, despite being born in the United States just like the ignorant kids who attacked them.

NBC news reported that the two boys, 11 and 13 respectively, were attacked by fellow students on campus in Tremont in the Bronx. This occurred after they had endured several weeks of taunts from the other kids, whilst sometimes being called ‘Ebola’.

The attacks were critical enough that the boys had to be taken to hospital. Their father says they would return to the school, but only after they are assured of the ‘physical and emotional’ safety of his kids.

Ignorant lumping like this of all Africans is nothing new, so if the adults are doing it why wouldn’t the children do it as well. Senegal herself has contained the virus, and there was never really an epidemic there like in the other countries.

These two kids had to endure trauma based on ignorance, and if the world is to successfully stave off this virus it’s attitudes like that which must be eliminated.