Pandemic

In a small town of 200 people, imagine one person is infected with a contagious virus, and that anyone who’s infected spreads the virus to one new person each week.

How many weeks will it take for all 200 people to be infected?

• 7

• 11

• 8

• 6.5

There are approximately 7.7 billion humans on Earth. If the virus spreads beyond the 200-person town, how long will it be until everyone on the planet is infected?

• 38

• 30

• 35

• 33

Some viruses are more contagious than others. Instead of passing the virus to one new person, imagine each infected person passes it to three. How will this affect how long it takes for the virus to infect everyone on earth?

• Reduces time to 20 weeks

• Reduces time to 17 weeks

• Increases time to 40 weeks

• No change

Many factors influence how a virus spreads. Let’s start with the scenario in an infected person passes the virus to three new people each week. If two-thirds of the population is immune, then: (Choose all that apply)

• The number of infected will triple every week

• Only 2.6 billion people will be infected

• It will take 32 weeks for the virus to completely spread

• All of the above

If officials quarantine all infected people 8 weeks after outbreak, then:

• The number of infected quadruples every week

• Only around 66,000 will be infected

• After 8 weeks, the virus fails to spread further

• All the above

If the virus kills its host one week after infection, then:

• The number of infected triples every week

• After 21 weeks, the virus fails to spread

• The entire population will eventually become infected

There are more than 100,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 viruses on Earth. While some viruses are more contagious than others, they all have the same goal: to spread. Watch the National Geographic clip about efforts to fight the Ebola virus. What are some characteristic of “successful” viruses, and how can humans keep them in check?

Who is this?

• Mickey Mouse

• Donald Duck

• Goofy

• Pluto