However, an analysis last week released by Goldman Sachs points to a "fear factor" surrounding Ebola in this country that's closer in proportion to that following the terrorist attacks on 9/11 (with its ancillary, though unrelated, incidents of anthrax attacks) than to recent disease outbreaks, including SARS, bird flu and swine flu.
That said, fears related to the SARS outbreak caused more damage to Hong Kong's GDP and to air travel in 2003 than fallout from 9/11 resulted in the U.S. in 2001. At the same time, effects of the "fear factor" could be far-reaching for our economy, even if the actual disease is contained.