Though I agree with your final statement, I wholeheartedly disagree with your second. It's far more contagious than HIV (casual contact - sweat, saliva etc) and more deadly as well.
Twas a bit of hyperbole. Its easier to catch, but not THAT easy. It's not airborne.
Actually, Ebola has a higher mortality rate than HIV (current strain is around 55%, US mortality rates over the last 30 years in the US are about 30% for HIV and continue to drop). And Ebola is more contagious than HIV as it can be caught from all bodily fluids.
One big difference between aids and ebola is with aids you tend to live a long time while you are contagious, with ebola you go pretty quick before being able to spread it very much.
You nailed it. Ebola is really a "failed" virus, as in any which kills nearly 100% of its victims quickly. That makes it self-limiting, and it's always been that in the past. That this latest outbreak's only killing around 60% is a bit unsettling. That means the virus is "learning." Most of the techniques used with MRSA patients would port right over to Ebola. I'd say the profession most at risk would be undertakers...
It's certainly a horrible disease and fear-inducing. As Earl said, the jury is out. So far it is contained in Africa, mostly in "rural" areas. The fact it has been contained until now to the continent and mostly kept out of the big cities is comforting. It may indicate that we know enough to control its spread. It may indicate we are lucky. Or both. This outbreak is different. It has infected more people, killed more people, and seems to be gaining - not losing - momentum. This is different than past outbreaks and is unsettling.
Honestly, I'd be more worried about some of these strains of bird flu coming out of Asia. Go read up the 1918 H1N1 flu. That took out 5% of the world population.
A flu pandemic like that one would be terrifying. Unlike the regular flu healthy folks were as likely to die as anyone due to cytokine storms.
I actually contracted H1N1 several years ago, when it reestablished itself. I thought I was safe because of my age. (I was around when it was the predominant strain.) It's nasty stuff. It was literally months before I felt normal again...
Glad you got over it. Bad stuff. From here last winter
Believe me, there was a time when I had my own doubts. For those who don't know how these flu epidemics work, a relative of H1N1 was the predominate strain from 1918 until 1957. Then, the Asiatic flu swept in and took its place. I was saved from dying in 1957 because the professor who shared the bathroom happened to realize he hadn't heard me in days. He came in and asked how long I'd been in bed. I told him three days. A teacher I knew from Decatur who was in T-Town, working on his masters came and got me, made a bed in the back of his car and drove me home to Decatur. The Asian strains stayed the main strain until the "new" H1N1 showed up again. The strains tend to become less virulent over time, because, as I said above, if you're a virus, you want to propagate. Killing your host quickly is not the best way to accomplish that. I already see signs the Ebola virus is attenuating. That sounds like good news, but it's not...
At the moment, smallpox would likely be considered more dangerous, because it's an airborne virus.
