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Ebola: Limited threat or pandemic in the making?

Like compound interest, the number of people impacted by a pandemic escalates exponentially -- and now there could be a new threat on the horizon.

By Christopher Tidball | Updated on October 01, 2014

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.  

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