Hold Your Breath

(ABC News photo)

With headlines like Ebola Death Rate Hits 70% the public is understandably panicked.

The good news seems to be that Ebola will not be contracted if the uninfected completely avoid the body fluids of a sick person:

It kills health workers by exposing them to patients who, by the end, exude up to ten litres of virus-laden fluids a day. The number of infections [in Africa] seems to be doubling every two to four weeks. As health-care workers fall ill and the infection grows exponentially, a society’s defences against Ebola are rapidly overwhelmed.

The disease poses only a slight risk in rich countries, because tracing, diagnosing and isolating scattered cases is within the scope of their health systems. Officials are minimising the threat by screening travellers.

As of this writing, eight cases have been treated in the United States, but only two of them were contracted on American soil.

Hold your breath.