Okay.. first and foremost, it is very sad and upsetting that this horrible disease is taking many lives. I don’t want to make light of the situation, but for any of us to contract ebola or any other disease through the mail, these very precise circumstances would have to occur.

Someone from the specific outbreak area in west Africa or recently visited there, who actually has the disease and is actively ill (so as to shed large amounts of the virus) suddenly decides to write a snail mail letter/package/postcard presumably from the hospital with the doctors permission (fine, sounds legit)

This person would have to actually be actively bleeding or smearing a significant amount of bodily fluids all over the envelope, maybe by spitting on it, or vomiting, or other gross ways (maybe s/he has a large paper cut or something, whatever)

This envelope/package/postcard has to be made of metal or glass, because viruses don’t survive well on porous surfaces (fine, let’s say a metal envelope, you can find those anywhere)

This envelope/package/postcard has to be mailed immediately because outside of the host, the virus dies within a few days (the patient would need to wait in line at the local post office during the height of the fever to mail it USPS express overnight priority, what a trooper)

This envelope/package/whatever has to be kept at a temperature of 39F, low humidity and away from sunlight to maintain proper survival environment for the virus (let’s just say the USPS truck and plane has a traveling cooler just for such occasions)

Against all odds, the ebola virus survives and arrives in our mailbox alive. Wow! For the cherry on top, we would then have to make sure the virus enters broken skin or through mouth, nose, or eyes. I don’t know about you guys but I don’t usually rub every envelope I receive all over my gaping wounds or on my mouth and nose and eyes.

Let’s not worry about our beloved snail mail, it is not a suitable conduit for spreading viruses. Now that’s a real creative way to annoy a postman. If anything, coins, paper money, those things are disgusting and carry way more germs (and cocaine if you believe the stories). If you are really worried about the ebola outbreak, just don’t hug anyone you don’t know and make sure to keep hygienic and wash hands. So let’s keep on writing letters! Thanks for reading!