BANGOR, Maine (NEWS CENTER)-- The Ebola outbreak in west Africa has infected 7,178 people and killed 3,338. But the risk of an outbreak in the U.S. is much less compared to other viruses that have been here for decades.
According to the CDC, Ebola can't be transmit to others unless someone who's infected shows symptoms, which occur between two and 21 days after exposure. Then the virus can only be transmitted through direct contact with an infected person's blood or bodily fluids.
Influenza has similar symptoms to the early stages of Ebola, including fever, cough, and headaches, bu it's spread by coughing or sneezing droplets of fluid into the air. The CDC doesn't record exact numbers of influenza related deaths, but it reports that there are up to 49,000 related deaths each year in the U.S.
Pertussis, commonly called Whooping Cough, is a highly contagious respiratory illness that's spread through coughing or sneezing in close contact with others. Children are prone to contracting Whooping Cough. The rapid, breathless coughs last up to ten weeks and kills one to two in every 100 children infected. Three hundred cases were reported in Maine between January and August 2014.
Measles has made a comeback, with 592 cases between January and August of this year. The respiratory disease is so infectious, that 90 percent of the non-immune people in close proximity to an infected person will become infected. The virus is air-borne and it kills an estimated 164,000 people worldwide each year.
According to the CDC there is no FDA approved medicine or vaccine for the Ebola virus, but here in the U.S, we have the staff and resources to be able to treat the illness- including cleaning infected objects and regularly hydrating infected patients. In fact, the CDC says chance of recovery from the Ebola depends largely on the patient's immune system and good supportive care. As for influenza, pertussis, and measles, the CDC advises the best way to avoid contracting those viruses is to be vaccinated against them and avoid contact with anyone infected by them.
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