U.S. Ebola Cases May Exceed Two Dozen by November, Researchers Say

[Purveyor]

By Michelle Fay Cortez and Lorraine Woellert Oct 16, 2014 12:04 PM ET

There could be as many as two dozen people in the U.S. infected with Ebola by the end of the month, according to researchers tracking the virus with a computer model.

The actual number probably will be far smaller and limited to a couple of airline passengers who enter the country already infected without showing symptoms, and the health workers who care for them, said Alessandro Vespignani, a Northeastern University professor who runs computer simulations of infectious disease outbreaks. The two newly infected nurses in Dallas don’t change the numbers because they were identified quickly and it’s unlikely they infected other people, he said.

The projections only run through October because it’s too difficult to model what will occur if the pace of the outbreak changes in West Africa, where more than 8,900 people have been infected and 4,500 have died, he said. If the outbreak isn’t contained, the numbers may rise significantly.

“If by the end of the year the growth rate hasn’t changed, then the game will be different,” Vespignani said. “It will increase for many other countries.”

Staying Rational

The model analyzes disease activity, flight patterns and other factors that can contribute to its spread.

“We have a worst-case scenario, and you don’t even want to know,” Vespignani said. “We could have widespread epidemics in other countries, maybe the Far East. That would be like a bad science fiction movie.”

more...

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-10-16/u-s-ebola-cases-may-exceed-two-dozen-by-november-.html

[In_The_Wind]

1. That wouldn't surprise me.

[belzabubba333]

2. 24 by november that means ebola will have infected .00000008% of our population

[boomer55]

3. How bout you give me a penny today

And then double it tomorrow. Then for the next 28 days give me double of the previous days pennies.

Come on its cheap and only a penny

[belzabubba333]

4. ebola is not doing that here

[kestrel91316]

5. And that will use up the available beds in our 4 Biocontainment Patient Care Units.

So it's time for some more hospitals to start intensive training and get their protocols fine tuned and supplies in stock.

And we need to focus on doing this in BLUE states where they won't ignore CDC guidelines completely because OBAMA!!