# Ebola 2014 vs Covid 2020 - Why did the virus go away in 2014? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 25, 2021, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebola-2014-vs-covid-2020-why-did-the-virus-go-away-in-2014/931457 "2021-01-25T13:41:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2021, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebola-2014-vs-covid-2020-why-did-the-virus-go-away-in-2014/931457/1 "2021-01-25T13:41:44Z")
Most of us had no idea how incredibly lucky the US was in 2014. The first infected were health care workers. Same as 2020. Ebola never got beyond 11 cases and disappeared. Covid turned into a pandemic. Our national nightmare for 2020. How did we dodge a nightmare in 2014? I kept hoping Covid would go away in 2020. I thought our health care system would suppress it But it just got bigger and bigger. > **[Ebola virus cases in the United States](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ebola_virus_cases_in_the_United_States)** > > Pages for logged out editors learn more > > > Four laboratory-confirmed cases of Ebola virus disease (commonly known as "Ebola") occurred in the United States in 2014. Eleven cases were reported, including these four cases and seven cases medically evacuated from other countries. The first was reported in September 2014. Nine of the people contracted the disease outside the US and traveled into the country, either as regular airline passengers or as medical evacuees; of those nine, two died... ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2021, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebola-2014-vs-covid-2020-why-did-the-virus-go-away-in-2014/931457/2 "2021-01-25T13:48:47Z")
Ebola is much, much, much less contagious than the novel coronavirus. From a Google search of “how is Ebola transmitted”: > **Ebola** is **spread** by direct contact with blood or other body fluids (such as: vomit, diarrhea, urine, breast milk, sweat, semen) of an infected person who has symptoms of **Ebola** or who has recently died from **Ebola**. Compare that to COVID-19 which is spread through the air, and can be spread by asymptomatic people. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2021, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebola-2014-vs-covid-2020-why-did-the-virus-go-away-in-2014/931457/3 "2021-01-25T14:03:51Z")
I had a false sense of confidence after 2014. I remember the news showing the Air filtered rooms that completely isolated the Ebola patients. Nurses wore elaborate PPE. They didn’t mention there were only a few of those rooms available. The stockpile of PPE was very limited. My local hospitals are currently putting in air filtration for patient rooms. They’re trying to upgrade in the middle of a pandemic. I’m embarrassed now that I thought our tech would prevent a pandemic. That a pandemic just couldn’t happen. Gosh I was so wrong. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2021, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebola-2014-vs-covid-2020-why-did-the-virus-go-away-in-2014/931457/4 "2021-01-26T00:42:27Z")
Also there aren’t many (any?) asymptomatic Ebola patients. When you have Ebola, you’re _really_ sick, You’re not going out to the pub and bleeding on people. Lots of people with Covid are asymptomatic and compliance with public health requests to stay home and wear masks has been _poor_. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2021, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebola-2014-vs-covid-2020-why-did-the-virus-go-away-in-2014/931457/5 "2021-01-26T00:49:21Z")
Ebola = far harder to transmit. You almost have to _ **want** _ an Ebola pandemic in order to have one.