It’s been all over the TV. Masked health workers screening airplane passengers for elevated body temperatures that can signal Ebola infection.

They’re screening with a simple “temperature gun.” It’s not fool-proof by a long shot. But it’s all that’s currently available. Even this elementary screening could potentially save millions of lives by early detection and preventing an Ebola-infected traveler triggering a world-wide pandemic.

Hopefully, Ebola will be contained. And while each of its victims is a tragic loss, the highly-publicized Ebola outbreak has drawn the world’s attention to the life-or-death importance of early and reliable detection of all deadly diseases.