Ebola, Epidemiology

So far this semester of nursing school we've spent less than an hour talking about Ebola in America. There is legitimate concern for good guidance on PPE. CDC guidelines have been in evolution, which makes health care workers nervous.(NY Times)BUT, epidemiology views the population as the patient. And right here right now we are looking pretty healthy. Ebola is an epidemiologist's dream since you are not contagious until you are showing symptoms (no latency), and the course is long (outbreaks spread from patient to patient relatively slowly). It is fairly easy to find people who may have been exposed and quarantine them before they have a chance to pass along the virus. Contrast these characteristics with those of the flu, and you can see why the CDC isn't sweating too much.Also, what does this even mean? No.