Why Ebola Is Not Going To Wipe Out Humanity

The following owes credit to a conversation with Professor Anderson, who said "There are certain ideas that are so preposterous that only a professor could come up with them" in response to a question about this topic.

Alright, so there's this guy, and he's a professor, and he has a huge following. And he thinks Ebola is going to kill us all. And he's psyched.

Did I mention he's from Texas?

I'm sorry. Inappropriate joke. I shouldn't make fun of any place just because. That's an ignorant thing to do. Even if it's Texas.

So...he never mentions the slow, painful liquefication of the organs. Or that blood comes spurting out of every hole in your body. No, he's chipper as can be. He can't wait to repopulate the world with the young co-eds who laugh at his jokes.

But the thing is, it's not possible. Every time Ebola pops up, it kills the people infected so fast that it wipes itself out. It happens every so often. Whatever animal carries it (I have my money on either bats or monkeys) spreads it to a few people. They spread it to a few more. And then they're all liquefied. The end. There is no way that it could spread fast enough to kill over 5 billion people. It's just not possible.

Genetically engineered smallpox. Now THAT could knock off a few billion.

If we're going to be afraid of things we can't control, let's at least be accurate.