When it comes to travel, the worst four letter word that starts with “f”, is “fear,” especially when it comes to disease.

So are you afraid of flying because of a disease you might catch when you travel?

Consider this. Americans have a 1 in 3.9 million chance of dying from ebola. Those are odds that I’ll take. Do you know why? You have a better chance of having your pajamas catch on fire (by the way, that’s 1 in 935,000).

So what about bird flu, and SARS, and hoof and mouth disease? I remember those. I went to London in the height of the hoof and mouth disease scare. Was I met at the airport with a horse throbbing out the mouth? I was not. And I came back.

And during SARS, that’s when I went to Hong Kong. Hotel occupancy at my hotel was at 3%. Do you know what that meant? The staff-to-Greenberg ratio was out of control! Did I have a great time or what? So before you leave and travel by air, talk to your doctor, have a conversation, be smart, and get out of town.