The spread of Ebola in West Africa may delay a study abroad trip to Sierra Leone, with a decision on the trip’s fate to be made in mid-November.

In March, doctors from the World Health Organization reported an outbreak of the Ebola virus in Guinea. From there the virus spread into neighboring countries Sierra Leone and Liberia. More than 3,700 cases of Ebola have been reported in Sierra Leone as of Oct. 19, according to a Tuesday Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report.

Study Abroad Director Anne Seitzinger is optimistic about the future of the Sierre Leone trip, which was planned for the summer.

“If the program is postponed for the 2015 academic year we will certainly look into the possibility of offering it in 2016,” Seitzinger said.

The study abroad program is offered in more than 75 countries, and Sierra Leone has been one of them since 2010 thanks to associate sociology professor Abu Bah.

Bah, a native of Sierra Leone, created the Sierra Leone program with the Study Abroad Office as well as the University of Sierra Leone. Bah sponsored programs in 2010 and 2013 and is sponsoring the 2015 program.

“If the program is postponed, the reason put simply is due to the Ebola epidemic in Sierra Leone,” Bah said. “Our biggest focus is student safety, and due to the health infrastructure being stretched so thin over there we are very concerned. The study abroad department and I spoke to other universities with similar programs and adopted a ‘wait and see’ approach.”

Mike Mucci, first-year psychology graduate student, said Americans thinks life-threatening diseases can quickly become epidemics but think cases in the United States are isolated incidents.

“I think now that Ebola has become mainstream [NIU] should extend their decision timeline; November might be a little too fast to make their decision,” Mucci said. “This program sounds like something worthwhile for students.”

No matter what the decision may be, Bah and Seitzinger said they have received positive responses from students who have participated in the Sierra Leone study abroad program.

“It really touched my feelings a lot, the students who went mentioned how it was an extraordinary experience, a transformation experience,” Bah said. “You could see they were deeply, deeply touched by all they learned from it.”