Ebola: How worried should you be?
You have a better chance of death from pajamas catching fire, statistics show
A doctor who was flown to Nebraska for treatment over the weekend after being diagnosed with Ebola in Sierra Leone earlier this month died Monday, becoming the second person to die from the disease in the United States. Seven other people treated for Ebola in the U.S. have survived.
But despite fear-mongering headlines that have followed U.S. Ebola cases, Americans should not be worried about the disease.
According to National Safety Council data published by the Washington Post on Monday, the odds of dying from Ebola in the United States are 1 in 3,934,300.
Statistically speaking, you have a better chance of dying from a spider bite (1 in 562,042) a snake bite (1 in 437,144), a dog bite (1 in 103,534), a lighting strike (1 in 135,666), falling out of bed (1 in 3,765) or your pajamas catching fire (1 in 983,575) than you do from Ebola.
Compare the odds of dying from Ebola with, say, the flu (1 in 79), diabetes (1 in 57), cancer (1 in 7) and heart disease (1 in 7), and you begin to see how your Ebola fears are largely unwarranted.
Below, some of the most unlikely causes of death in the United States, as compiled by the Post.
Source: National Safety Council Injury Facts, 2014 Edition
Click here for the full list.
