You best protection against EBOLA is to have a Flu shot at the (early) start of the flu season. Why? Because you have a million times greater risk of dying from the flu than Ebola! It’s just that “the flu” seems common, so we don’t consider it much any more.
How many Americans have died from Ebola? Well, zero. Not that it’s not frightening … but people get used to dangerous things and then put it out of their mind. The “new epidemics” capture our imagination (fears) and get blow out of proportion.
Indeed, you have a WAY greater risk of contacting the new form of tuberculosis (that’s “airborne!”) … but, hey, who worries about TB? That “old stuff.”
Read on if you dare …
FLU: “CDC estimates that from the 1976-1977 season to the 2006-2007 flu season, flu-associated [American] deaths ranged from a low of about 3,000 to a high of about 49,000 people.”
TB: “Physicians in India have discovered a strain of tuberculosis they call ‘TDR’ for ‘Totally Drug-Resistant’— meaning there is no antibiotic available to fight it.” (Do Americans travel to India? Indians to America? How long will it be before … )
MRSA (bacteria): “MRSA is a potentially deadly type of staph bacteria that is resistant to antibiotics and may cause skin and other infections. MRSA can be contracted through direct contact with an infected person or by sharing personal items, such as towels or razors that have touched/infected.” (There was a … “secret, not media reported” … outbreak at the UCSB old campus pool.)
MERS: “Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) is viral respiratory illness first reported in Saudi Arabia in 2012. It is caused by a coronavirus called MERS-CoV. Most people who have been confirmed to have MERS-CoV infection developed severe acute respiratory illness. They had fever, cough, and shortness of breath. About 30% of people confirmed to have MERS-CoV infection have died.”
Also: West Nile virus, SARS, etc., … The list is getting longer these days. It almost makes AIDS/HIV seem benign. However, I don’t think the average American worries about AIDS any more? Just commonplace now, we got used to it! No worries!