There have been ~4000 infections and ~2400 deaths from Ebola since 1976, putting the death rate at about 60%. These are pretty terrible odds (though at least low absolute numbers), but considering the rudimentary to non-existent treatment where many infections occur, its hard to compare it to other diseases. Other hemorrhagic fevers and some protozoan infections in Africa have similar death rates. Many things we now have treatments for were more deadly than Ebola is (AIDS, Bubonic Plague, Rabies, and others) and there are still infectious diseases that are an 97-100% death sentence, and that you (assuming you are not in West Africa) are more likely to get than Ebola -- Prion disease, amoebas in your brain, Anthrax. So, you know, lots of things are trying to kill you all the time.
Posted on: Thu, 07 Aug 2014 16:40:47 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015