MONROVIA, Liberia — The spread of the Ebola virus across West Africa has been fast and deadly. The World Health Organization has characterized the speed and extent of the outbreak as unprecedented. To date, at least 2,288 people in the region have died, and some 4,269 confirmed or probable cases have been reported. But the global response has been underwhelming; the aid group Doctors Without Borders has characterized international efforts to tackle the crisis as “dangerously inadequate.”

Liberia has been hardest hit by the epidemic. So far the country has counted 1,224 likely Ebola deaths, of which 508 have been confirmed by laboratory testing. Most of its hospitals have either closed or are barely functioning. In Bong County, in the north, the two largest hospitals have been shuttered, leaving over 330,000 people without health care. As foreign staff depart, borders close and the last planes leave, it seems that the world intends to cut us off and allow us to die.

Though the risks to the West posed by Ebola are minimal, Western media have fanned irrational fears, fueling panic about the spread of the virus to Europe and North America rather than calling for international assistance to combat the crisis in West Africa. The Western press blames superstition, myths and ignorance for the virus’s spread through the region — not the fact that West African facilities are inadequate and overwhelmed; government finances are already stretched to capacity; there is widespread corruption and poor coordination among government agencies; and the international response has been pitiful.

Liberia, which emerged from its 14-year civil war in 2003, simply does not have the infrastructure to manage the Ebola crisis. It should not be expected to handle the worst outbreak of the world’s deadliest virus on its own. The international community must act now to stop the situation from spiraling further out of control.