If an Epidemic card would be drawn during the very first round, shuffle it back into the lower portion of the player deck and draw again. A turn-one epidemic decides the game before anyone has moved.
Does your table play this?
Each player gets a fifth action that may only be used to move between adjacent cities. A gentle difficulty reduction for a table learning the game.
Players may show each other their cards freely rather than only describing them. Removes a memory exercise that the game was never really about — note it makes the game meaningfully easier.