Now that everyone is up and arms about the word "Ebola," downloads for the disease-oriented Plague Inc. mobile game have been on the rise.

How is Ebola different from Y2K, Anthrax, West Nile, WMDs, SARS, Bird Flu, E. Coli, Swine Flu, the 2012 Mayan Apocalypse and the worldwide threat from North Korea? While everyone is currently thinking that Ebola is the next extinction-level event, its recent scares have led to a surge in downloads for a mobile game. Polygon reports that Plague Inc., a free mobile title which focuses on the spread of worldwide epidemics, has had a 50 percent increase in downloads over the past two weeks.

"This is the first time something in the real world has has an effect on the sales charts, especially since Ebola came over to America," said James Vaughn, the one-man-gang developer of Plague Inc. at Ndemic Creations. "People are curious about it and want to know more about infectious diseases. Plague Inc. can play a role because it's an intelligent look at how infectious diseases can spread."

In Plague Inc., players can name their supervirus whatever they would like, so it's no surprise that "Ebola" is the word of the day when it comes to people naming their diseases in the game.

"Plague Inc. has an audience of 35 million people who have downloaded it since the game launched. I want to help in any way I can, whether that is raising funds or raising awareness. I'm currently talking to major charities to see if Plague Inc. can be used as a tool to help in some way."

Plague Inc. sounds like it could be one of the best video game viruses out there:

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