Zander that's better than most of us who didn't even watch a minute of that press conference.  Atleast you might understand more of it xD

geeogree :
"If you aren't concerned about this after hearing how things have gone so far for the US then you've got your head in the sand. "

Not really.


Senegal
cases:1
Deaths:0
Population: 13,635,927
Healthcare ranking: 59

Guinea
cases:1,519
Deaths:862
Population:11,474,383
Healthcare ranking: 161

Sierra Leone
cases:3,410
Deaths:1,200
Population:5,743,725
Healthcare index:Unranked

Liberia
cases:4,262
Deaths:2,484
Population:4,092,310
Healthcare index:186

Nigeria
cases:20
Deaths:8
Population:177,155,754
Healthcare index:187

U.S.A
cases:3(8 including known victims being taken to USA for treatment)
Deaths:1
Population:318,892,103
Healthcare index:37

A few key things to note there.

1st, population isnt an immediate indicator for lethality, Nigeria has the largest population in Africa, yet from the effect nations (very few by the way)they have the 2nd least number of contractions.

2nd with the exception of Nigeria (which is a vast nation, with fluctuating population density's), the health rankings go in tandem with contractions and deaths.

3rd, Ebola isnt immediately infectious as I stated in my earlier post. In fact, it becomes inefctious at around the same time the symptoms kick in, many of the symptoms such as vomiting being the source of infection.

4th, most of the 'hundreds' of possible infected are secondary contacts, having had contact with people who had contact with an infected. But as in point 3, its not immediately infectious.

I could provide more numbers, but I think Iv made my point. You are buying into the medias scare stories. Bad news days are good sales days, it was the same last time with bird flu, and frankly, that was a far larger risk.

It is being contained, and in fact has been managed fairly well so far. Unless the virus evolves (something the media has been claiming with no real evidence),then it will die out. You realise this isnt the first time Ebola has broken out? I dont know how many cycles its had, but it always subsides.

If you arent concerned with Ebola, id say its more likely because you have had your head buried in a book, and done the research.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/matthewherper/2014/10/19/why-americans-still-shouldnt-be-scared-of-catching-ebola/

"Despite the closure of schools in Ohio and Texas because students or staff members were on the plane with that nurse, despite the fact that people all over the country are suddenly becoming nervous about flying, your risk of catching Ebola is still far less than your risk of dying from the flu, which killed 53,667 Americans in 2010."

"It’s not spread by the respiratory route. If you’re sitting next to someone on a plane, you’re not going to catch it."

thenumberone : Hold on to your hat, because you are probably never going to hear me say this again. Fox News actually got something right this time. Recently, many Fox News anchors and reporters have discussed how the media coverage has been done very irresponsibly and have caused a lot of unnecessary panic by giving inaccurate information about the infection rates and whatnot. I had to double check to make sure I was watching the right station.

But yeah, not being afraid of it does not mean you have your head buried in the sand. Panicking about it means that you have been relying too much on media coverage and not doing research on the virus itself. Specifically, research that has been published before this "outbreak" in the US.

Many people have already covered how it is transmitted. You can sit in a room with dozens of people with Ebola and not catch it as long as you aren't messing with their blood and bodily fluids directly.

Many states have news coverage of someone who is in quarantine from suspected infection. Kansas is one of them, and it turned out to be nothing (as pretty much all the other states that have had a 'case'). There have been 3 confirmed cases, and one unfortunate death, and this has been in the news for a few weeks now. Given how quick this thing takes over in actual infections, if it were a legitimate problem, we would have more than the 3 original cases from a few weeks ago.

People FREAKED out over avian flue. Shortly after, people FREAKED out over swine flu. Look how "horrible" that ended up being. People need to chill out and stop relying on the news as their main source. News networks want ratings. Inducing a little bit of panic means people will tune in more for updates. They milk situations for as long as can because it keeps people watching.

Is Ebola serious if you contract it? Absolutely. It is no laughing matter. Was it serious that it got here and infected people? Absolutely. Has there been a failure to keep it contained, making it something that we need to be worried about? There is NO evidence to support that.

I've played enough Plague Inc to know that Ebola won't go very far... it both has high severity making people scared enough to try to develop a vaccine, and a fairly low infectivity (only infective by body fluids) making the disease slow enough that it will get cured before it spreads to everyone

I see America has not been wiped off the map yet. Shock horror huh?
This year was the year you learned not to trust the media.

what happened to ebola? i haven't heard anything about it lately it had everyone so worked up and now nothing! i imagine there are still cases in africa. what about america are there still any cases here? i don't watch the news daily or anything mostly because i don't trust the media so i haven't heard anything but i thought we were all going to be extinct by now?!?!?

a-sassy-black-lady : And that is why you shouldn't trust the media. It's not about warning us, it's about telling a story that people want to listen to. If they told the truth "moderately dangerous disease is being treated successfully", they wouldn't have any viewers. Ebola was never a major threat to the United States. If society in Africa were a little more advanced (or at least understanding of disease), then it never would have become a problem in the first place.

Ebola in the U.S. will not be as bad as it is in Africa. The U.S. is more sanitary and we have better health care. In Africa when a person dies they will touch the body and they will not bury the body. Some villages also do not let doctors come in.