The fear of an Ebola outbreak in the U.S. had been the topic of discussion since the first ever United States case appeared in Texas late September.
Even Rockdale's school, medical, government and law enforcement officials have had meetings to discuss how to handle a case of Ebola, a rare and deadly viral disease, if it happens within county limits.
But, as of Tuesday afternoon, the number of Ebola cases in Rockdale County stands at zero.
Jessica Anderson, public information officer for Gwinnett, Newton, & Rockdale Counties Public Health Department, says that citizens of Rockdale should be not be worried about an Ebola outbreak happening in the area.
"If you haven't been yourself to West Africa recently, nor have you had any principle contact with someone who's been to West Africa recently, then you're not at risk for exposure," she said. "The general population is at minimal, and I can't bold or emphasize that enough, risk of exposure.
However, with the cold season upon us, she adds that there is another infectious disease that people should be concerned with obtaining.
"They are at risk for the flu," said Anderson. ""The flu season is coming up and everyone needs to get their shots. We need to make sure we distinguish from the typical cold and flu, which everyone is going to get, (from) the symptoms of Ebola."
The symptoms of the flu and Ebola are very similar. In both cases, patients could present with a fever, severe headache, muscle pain, vomiting, diarrhea and abdominal pain.
People with Ebola may also have unexplained bleeding and bruising, while people with the flu will have upper respiratory congestion, sneezing and coughing.
"We need to get real when we talk about those symptoms, so the general population can understand what to be vigilant for, because (the health departments are) being vigilant on our end, and we're watching the whole community, but everyone can be vigilant about their own health at home."
The health of Rockdale
Overall, Rockdale is a fairly health community.
According to the 2014 County Health Rankings and Roadmaps, Rockdale is ranked 11th in overall health, or health outcomes, when compared to the other 158 Georgia counties.
The length of life and quality of life of the community contribute to the health outcomes.
Rockdale's figures for this category, which include premature deaths, low birth weight, poor or fair health, poor physical health days and poor mental health days, are all below the state average.
However, in the health factors category, which can have a direct effect the health outcomes, Rockdale's ranking drops to 38th among counties.
Health factors are broken into four sub-categories which are health behaviors, clinical care, social and economic factors and physical environment.
Kate Conkle, community coach for the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health, says that the health factors are broken up that way because there are a assortment of things that can influence the health of the community.
"We do that because we know it's not just one thing that makes us healthy," said Conkle. "There's a variety of factors."
She also adds that the rankings should be like at as neither negative nor positive, but should serve as a good starting point to tell people how health the community is.
Out of the two, the more important category to look at is the health factors.
"Communities should focus on health factors," said Conkle. "By making changings here, you can have a significant impact on the health of the community."
The University of Wisconsin-Madison collected the data in the report from other resources, like the Center for Disease Control and the U.S. Census. Since 2010, the school has compiled data ranking all counties in every state in the country.
The report was also referenced by the Rockdale Health Department in the 2014 Community Health Assessment report published in earlier this year.
Areas to explore
According to the report, Rockdale has six areas that either should be focused on when trying to improve the health factors.
• Adult Obesity: Approximately 33 percent of Rockdale's adult population is overweight, which is five percent higher than the state and eight percent higher than the national average.
• Food Environment Index: This indicator calculates the health of the food environment. It includes both the community and consumer nutrition environments as well as access to food in terms of the distance the average consumer travels to a grocery store or supermarket. Graded on a scale of one to 10, with one being the worst, Rockdale's index number is 6.1. It's below the state's index of 6.8 and drastically below the national index of 8.7.
• Uninsured: The percentage of adults under the age of 65 without health insurance is about 23 percent. It's only one percent higher than the state, but 12 percent higher than the nation average.
• High School Graduation: The rate of ninth-graders graduating in four years in Rockdale is estimated to be 66 percent. It's only two percent below the state average.
• Sexually transmitted infections: This calculated the rate of a chlamydia incidence per 100,000 population. Rockdale's rate is 770 per 100,000 population. That rate is more than 200 cases per population compared to the state and nearly 650 cases per population higher than the nation rate.