I remember when ebola was going to wipe out the earth; then one day it just went poof.
It still circulates in Africa. Congo literally just finished up their most recent outbreak. It will strike again. But it has very different Rnaught and death rate values. Basically, it is too strong of a killer to actually become a pandemic, as it kills off too many hosts too quickly to allow it to spread outside of sustained body fluid contact.
Ebola outbreaks are primarily sustained by the funeral practices of some Africans, who quite literally rub themselves in the body fluids of the dead person at the open casket funerals (direct kissing, rubbing, laying on dead body, etc) in order to say goodbye. When the govt steps in to control this behavior, then they resort to keeping the dead body for a couple of days at home to say goodbye instead.
