Re:CDC confirms first Ebola case diagnosed in US
by scarmig on Tuesday September 30, 2014 @07:25PM
(#8392005)
Malaria has a steady death rate. It's obviously a serious issue that doesn't get enough attention in the West, but immediate action will affect it only marginally.
The issue with Ebola isn't how many people it's killed so far (although the number is already tragic), but the number of deaths it can potentially cause. If left entirely unchecked at this point, it would kill over a million people in the next year. A half assed response limits it to hundreds of thousands, while a solid response limits it to tens of thousands (conceptually, numbers pulled out of ass but reasonable, I'd argue).
Outbreaks grow exponentially unless contained; the point of fast action is to prevent or curtail the exponential growth.
The issue with Ebola isn't how many people it's killed so far (although the number is already tragic), but the number of deaths it can potentially cause. If left entirely unchecked at this point, it would kill over a million people in the next year. A half assed response limits it to hundreds of thousands, while a solid response limits it to tens of thousands (conceptually, numbers pulled out of ass but reasonable, I'd argue).
Outbreaks grow exponentially unless contained; the point of fast action is to prevent or curtail the exponential growth.