[Movemout]

Just because nobody has fully recovered it does not follow that there is a 90% mortality rate. I see from your profile that you are well educated. With an MBA you must have taken at least one course in statistical analysis. Apply probable infection rates and known mortality rates for a more probable outcome. This disease seems to have some unusual features but not enough facts are available yet to draw any substantiated conclusions.

[Mother Abigail]

In Frankfurt, Germany, hospital officials who were monitoring the Singapore surgeon said his condition had slightly worsened Sunday. His mother-in-law had a high fever, and his pregnant wife appeared to be OK, they added.

The 32-year-old doctor, who was not identified, was taken off a Singapore Airlines New York-to-Singapore flight during a stopover in Frankfurt, the Associated Press reports.
The surgeon had treated one of the earliest cases in Singapore, and had then flown to a medical meeting in New York City, according to Thompson.

He may have gone to a hospital in New York -- the agency did not know which one -- before flying back. Before boarding the flight, he called a colleague in Singapore to describe his symptoms, and the colleague notified WHO officials,

The New York Times reports.
A New York City Health Department statement issued late Saturday said that the surgeon was in stable condition. In an interview with the city health officials, the statement said, the doctor told them that he had flown in on Wednesday, left on Friday, had had minimal contact with people in New York City and had attended the medical conference for only a few hours.

[EternalHope]

Apply probable infection rates and known mortality rates for a more probable outcome.

I suspect you are lumping two separate things together. Infection rates and mortality rates are not the same thing.

Nothing has been said in any source I have seen about infection rates. Could be high, could just as easily be low.

Mortality rates are not the same thing. They refer to the number of people who die, once they get it in the first place.

The mortality rate thus far is impossible to calculate because no one has gotten better. Based on the condition of the people who are sick, and the known fact that it does not respond to any known treatment, it looks like it will be high.

And yes, I do understand statistics. I even taught it for a year at the University of Washington. Based on your comment, I suspect you are suggesting multiplying the infection rate times the mortality rate to get the overall outcome to expect within the population as a whole. This may or may not work. The problem comes when you have multiple exposure opportunities. If enough people are sick, then the relevant number will be how many people are naturally resistant, not how many people will get sick from a single exposure opportunity.