Am I one of the minorities who believe that this hype about Ebola is more sensationalism and news than an actual pandemic we should be fearful for? Let's take a lot at what we can agree on: * The number of cases of infected patients is fairly small. * The vector of transmission is fluid exchange, so that reduces its ability to spread. * The virus doesn't appear to lie dormant, and is only contagious when the patient…
Is there a risk here? Yes, a small one.
I understand, but am frustrated by, the number of people who keep repeating "it's not airborne", as if this is some kind of definitive argument that a virus cannot spread here.
Something like 80% of cold/flu infections happen via "bodily fluids" -- people snot on a surface, someone else touches the surface, then touch their face, etc. This is an effective means of virus transmission. A virus doesn't need to be airborne for a pandemic to occur.
That said, we have a number of advantages over rural Africa in dealing with illnesses -- we have high standards of sanitation, good electricity, clean water, and our population is generally not afraid of physicians (with notable exceptions in some minority communities). But our biggest advantage, by far, is that Ebola isn't endemic here. Our best and most effective screen is "have you been to Africa recently?"
If that screen loses its effectiveness, you start to have to worry about every patient presenting with a fever and diarrhea, and the epidemiology becomes quite difficult. We're not really prepared for everyone with a fever and vomiting showing up at the emergency room...and it won't take many patients (a few thousand, say) for things to get tense.