Ebola vs Covid

[Lencoboy]

The other day I was reading on another forum an old thread from late 2014-early 2015 about Ebola.

I know it never gained a foothold here in the UK as there were only just a couple of officially confirmed cases of it within our shores IIRC, but I've heard/ read that Ebola was/is actually more lethal than Covid but strangely never seemed to explore into a full-blown global pandemic and inadvertently wreak major havoc in the way that Covid has since the first few months of 2020.

Plus I also seem to recall it being lower key in the media at the time, and there were strangely never any international travel bans despite Ebola (allegedly) being a more deadly virus.

Neither do I recall there being much in the way of major public 'hysteria' over it.

I'm just miffed (and intrigued) as to why Ebola turned out to be far less problematic worldwide than Covid, despite it's greater lethality and the far more cavalier attitudes to international travel and virtually zero restrictions during said outbreak?

Ditto for Swine Flu some 5 years earlier in terms of there being virtually zero attendant restrictions (including international travel), though I've already covered that in another thread on here.

[.Poppy.]

Simply put: Ebola isn't nearly as contagious as Covid. That's why it never took hold, and why there aren't as many variants either.

Covid is nasty but Ebola is far more so. I don't recall the mortality rate but it's high. And it basically just turns you to soup.

I don't know if you are familiar with the book The Hot Zone, but it's a fascinating telling of an Ebola outbreak. It was basically required reading in my office (Dr. Jaax's husband was key in starting the office I work in, and my last boss knew several of the people mentioned there firsthand). It's....alarming. As much as I'm running from Covid, if there was an Ebola outbreak that took hold I would absolutely never speak to anyone ever again.

As a bit of dark humor, there's a long running joke in my office that we would have debates over what we would rather have: Ebola or Rabies. I said hard pass, I would rather jump from a plane, thank you.

[Lencoboy]

In fact, since I first opened this thread just over an hour ago I curiously searched 'Ebola' in this forum, and found out that it was actually a much bigger deal (especially on here) than I actually realised, both then and now, though I actually first joined this forum at the start of March 2020 just when Covid was just starting to spread en masse throughout the UK (and the world).

I only vaguely recall stuff about Ebola in the news around late 2014 and very early 2015, but strangely I never really made that big a deal of it at the time, even though Swine Flu only just a few years prior seemed to be a much bigger deal, though that (and Ebola) is now by far trumped by Covid!

In fact, in spite of the tiny handful of known UK cases around December 2014-January 2015, I wasn't even aware that the Ebola thing was already happening as early as autumn 2013, and lasted into 2016, which is actually of a similar timescale to Covid so far, which, for better or worse shows how (unwittingly) naïve I was over the whole thing.

Perhaps, most ironically, this Covid pandemic has actually enlightened me a lot more over viruses/bugs/diseases, etc, of which I previously never really gave as much as a second thought to.

But as is often said, we all learn something new everyday!

[Fishmanpa]

Whatever illness or disease is in the news becomes a topic and fear here. I've seen it repeatedly through the years. Just the way it is TBH.

FMP

[jules321]

Ebola did not become a widespread issue for only one reason: It kills its host too quickly.

Covid was unable to be contained because it is highly contagious and does not kill its host. In that way, covid is a “smarter” virus.

[Lencoboy]

Ebola did not become a widespread issue for only one reason: It kills its host too quickly.

Covid was unable to be contained because it is highly contagious and does not kill its host. In that way, covid is a “smarter” virus.

I thought Ebola has actually existed for some decades now, but has had periodical 'epidemics', like many other viruses/diseases.

[Lencoboy]

Whatever illness or disease is in the news becomes a topic and fear here. I've seen it repeatedly through the years. Just the way it is TBH.

FMP

Media panics about diseases and illnesses do appear to have become more widespread on both sides of the Atlantic over the past 20-odd years (possibly buoyed inadvertently by the advent of 24/7 rolling news channels, social media, etc), plus there must have previously been many 'bugs' and even mini-'pandemics' that passed virtually unnoticed pre-2000.

In fact, as I've already said umpteen times before, the term Norovirus was unheard of before the early 2000s, despite similar bugs with the same symptoms previously existing since time immemorial, plus I've also said before that nearly everything seems to have had some kind of 'buzzword' attached to it over the past 20-odd years.

I also seem to recall MRSA being a big deal back in the 2000s (especially in hospitals), but barely seems to get mentioned nowadays.

[BlueIris]

MRSA is definitely still a big deal - hospitals check for it before every surgery. If it's not in the press so much now, it's because more stringent checks are being carried out.

[Lencoboy]

MRSA is definitely still a big deal - hospitals check for it before every surgery. If it's not in the press so much now, it's because more stringent checks are being carried out.

Well that explains it then.

I do wonder why many hospitals (and likewise establishments) were seemingly more lax with their hygiene and general cleanliness back in the 2000s compared to now, especially as there was little 'austerity' during the most part of said decade?