It is amazing Rich - to actually find a rock, at just 2 miles across, in this huge universe, and land on it moving at 30, 000 mph and come down at 2mph... there was concern it might have not gripped on fully and there was an emergency meeting last night...
Yep ebola has been known about for decades and outbreaks always fizzled out... the WHO should be given money to fund research into cures for deadly diseases that could become epidemics becasue no one funds research unless there is a market..its one of the flaws of capitalism (although the system generally works well, another example is the environemnt where capitalism does not generate concern or action and needs government intervention).
There are other viruses out there, and also there is the fact that other animals such as pigs and dogs may also harbour the virus and not show symptoms... And fruit bats (the endogenous host) occur in many countries around the world.. A global solution only comes from coordinated action on a global scale.. Basically plagues happen and do wipe out half of humanitty every milenia or so... We know what happened in medieval Europe. Frightening, but disaster planning just in case is always prudent. As is staying rational and acting. Like we are doing. So when our troops and drs and nurses go out there, they are heroes and should be treated as heroes, but the quarantine is essential as although the risks are calculated as small, one infected person on an underground could infect 1000s. So we should applaud and support the health workers and soldiers because they are saving humanity. And educate. And prayer with humility is actually a good thing.
edit: actually the comet is travelling at 83000 mph! Also the probe bounced twice, first time a whole km up taking 2 hrs to come down, then bouncing again..
