Editor’s note: Idris Ayodeji Bello is a Houston-based entrepreneur and global health advocate. The views expressed are his own.

(CNN) — There is no word more reviled in America than “Ebola,” especially since the death of Thomas Eric Duncan, the Liberian national who had traveled to Dallas. But as Ebola has spread, it has become increasingly clear that if there is to be any chance of stopping the disease — not only here in America, but across the world — then the United States must lead through inspiring example.

Unfortunately, the response of some institutions that should know better has been anything but inspiring.

First, this idea of a travel ban. Amidst numerous calls for a ban on air travel to and from West Africa, including from Texas Gov. Rick Perry, it is worth noting that West Africa is not a single country, but a region comprised of 15 nations.

And while Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone have been ravaged by the disease, Nigeria (20 cases) and Senegal (one case) have contained the disease, while Ghana, Togo, Cameroon and the other countries in this subregion of Africa have not reported any cases at all.

Should the U.S. follow the lead of countries, including Jamaica, which have instituted such a travel ban?

The trouble is that doing so would give us a false sense of security, and at a huge cost. In spite of the hundreds, if not thousands, of Americans that are volunteering on the frontline to fight this disease, only one infected person has so far made it into the United States.

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