Fear over a possible threat of an Ebola outbreak in the United States has been growing steadily since Thomas Eric Duncan flew from Liberia into the country while infected with Ebola. Since his hospitalization and subsequent death, two healthcare workers who came in contact with him have fallen ill with the deadly virus. Now, the general public seems to fear for their own safety and some politicians — mostly Republicans — want Obama to consider imposing travel and visa bans for the hardest hit areas of the outbreak.

But will these bans actually help protect the public?

The answer to this appears to be a resounding no, for several reasons. One of the more pressing reasons is that restricting air travel does very little to solve the problem and stop Ebola at the source. Instead, public health officials warn it could very easily have the opposite effect by preventing much needed supplies and personnel from reaching the area.

This has already been a problem for people in the middle of the outbreak who are attempting to provide relief.

British authorities decided last week to reverse the decision that would allow Gambia Bird, a German based airline, to resume direct connection flights from Britain and Sierra Leone. They said it was because of the health crisis in the area.

As a result of this decision, a flight was canceled that would have carried several aid workers out of the area as well as four tons of equipment and supplies meant to aid relief efforts. Among this cargo was 1,000 biohazard suits.

Sean Casey, a member of the International Medical Corps, says that these restrictions will make it harder to recruit help as people are not willing to go to the area if they do not know they can get back home.

Preventing air travel and increasing screening measures aimed at keeping infected people from flying also encourages them to lie about their circumstances. So far none of the people who have been prevented from flying under suspicion of Ebola have tested positive for the virus.

Further complicating the matter is the long incubation period that can occur before symptoms begin to present themselves.

Some experts think that flight bans could encourage a false sense of security in countries whose vigilance in containment of infected persons would be essential to preventing the very outbreak they fear.