The vast majority of Ontario residents are concerned about Ebola but also confident that the province is prepared to respond to an outbreak, a new poll from Mainstreet Technologies has found.

The telephone poll of 3,103 residents has determined that close to three quarters of respondents are either very concerned (28 per cent) or extremely concerned (49 per cent) about the spread of the virus while a mere 6 per cent says they are not concerned at all.

Fear was highest among those between the ages of 35 and 49 with 56 per cent of the people in that group describing themselves as extremely concerned. The younger, meanwhile, were less worried with 40 per cent of those between the ages of 18 and 34 describing themselves as very concerned.

Despite the high level of worry overall, though, it appears Ontarians do have faith in the health care system to contain any potential outbreak with three quarters of respondents saying that the province is either very prepared (37 per cent) or extremely prepared (38 per cent) and only 12 per cent saying the province is not prepared.

"No doubt, Ebola is a terrible and terrifying disease that can infect anyone, regardless of age and health, but the fear it has caused is surprisingly high. Despite the high level of concern, however, there is an equally high level of confidence in the Ontario health care system to manage an infection or outbreak," Mainstreet Technologies President Quito Maggi said in a press release accompanying the poll.

In addition to Ebola, Mainstreet Technologies also quizzed respondents about whether they are also concerned about the flu and 76 per cent of respondents said they were not concerned at all while just 8 per cent said they were either very concerned (5 per cent) or extremely concerned (3 per cent).

“Although experts disagree on the number of flu related deaths in Canada, the number being as low as 300 per year and up to 8,000 per year, the flu should be a greater concern than Ebola,” Maggi said.

The poll is considered accurate to within 1.76 percentage points.

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