I remember as a child my teacher asking me how much money I'd have if he gave me a penny and I doubled that penny each day for one month. I was astounded at the outcome of $5,368,709.12 after just 30 days of compounding.

Now, let's consider a more human element. Consider the number of people you come in contact with each and every day, or even your primary contacts. Then consider the people who had contact with your primary contacts and would be considered secondary contacts. Next multiply this by any number from 2 to 21, which is the incubation period for the Ebola virus. Now add to the equation the first documented case of Ebola in the United States.

According to NBC News, the patient came from Liberia. He left Monrovia Sept. 19 and arrived in the United States Sept 20. Health officials won't give many details about the patient, but Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director Dr. Thomas Frieden says he was visiting relatives who live in the United States, implying he may not himself be a U.S. citizen. Health officials also say he does not appear to have been a health worker. Prior to this case, the four Ebola patients evacuated to the U.S. for treatment have all been American doctors or medical missionaries.

Recommended For You

Want to continue reading?
Become a Free PropertyCasualty360 Digital Reader

Your access to unlimited PropertyCasualty360 content isn’t changing.
Once you are an ALM digital member, you’ll receive:

  • Breaking insurance news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
  • Weekly Insurance Speak podcast featuring exclusive interviews with industry leaders
  • Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
  • Critical converage of the employee benefits and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, BenefitsPRO and ThinkAdvisor
NOT FOR REPRINT

© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.