The Washington Post has a simulation and visualization of how fast Ebola spreads and how deadly it is compared to other infectious diseases.  I ran the simulation:

Ebola vs several diseases

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A comparison that has been made is to the Flu, which kills over 30,000 people every year in the US.  While this figure is certainly true, Ebola is much more deadly, with a death rate of 70% this year.  This is visualized very well with this simple comparison:

Ebola vs Flu

Flu spreads fairly rapidly, infecting 100 people within 14 days.  However, only 2 of those people will die of Flu.

Ebola, by comparison, spreads more slowly, taking 68 days to infect 100 people.  But the consequences are much more severe – about 70% of those infected will likely die.

Thanks to Flowing Data for the link.

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