[user104658]

Originally Posted by lostalex

Outbreak staring Dustin Hoffman and Rene Russo is one of my favorite movies ever. This disease is SCARY!

That wasn't Ebola, it was a fictional (and worse) virus than Ebola.

A global outbreak, or any large scale outbreak, of Ebola is all but impossible for two reasons.

1) Ebola is not airborne. To catch it, there needs to be direct bodily fluid contact with an infected person, e.g. blood or saliva. This is actually a major plot point of Outbreak. The **** hits the fan because the fictional virus mutates and becomes airborne.

2) Ebola isn't contagious in the incubation phase. Unlike many other viruses - like the various influenzas - someone with Ebola isn't contagious until they start showing signs of being infected. This makes containment much easier.


Basically, Ebola is scary because of the very high death rate once infected. But as diseases go, it's not particularly infectious... it doesn't spread easily or quickly.