Ebola is officially a problem in the eyes of Americans.
Americans now consider Ebola among the top 10 important issues facing the country, though the deadly virus still ranks behind five other issues, according to a new Gallup poll.
Five percent of Americans think Ebola is the most important problem facing the United States today, ranked behind the economy (17 percent), dissatisfaction with government (16 percent), unemployment and jobs (10 percent), healthcare (8 percent) and immigration and illegal aliens (7 percent).
Ebola being a concern of five percent of Americans is a deceivingly insignificant number: It is tied with other clearly important national issues such as ethical, moral and family decline, the federal budget deficit and federal debt, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria and education.
The poll also shows another significant trend. Concern over immigration has been gradually dropping: 15 percent were concerned in August, falling to 12 percent in September and now a new four-month low of seven percent in October.
The poll of 1,017 adults was conducted by telephone from Oct. 12-15 with a margin of sampling error of plus or minus four percentage points.
