The center for disease control and prevention says when Tomas Eric D. started his trip from Liberia to the US, he showed no signs of having the deadly Ebola virus but witnesses in Liberia said he had contact with Ebola victims there and Liberian official said when D. was asked if he had such contact, he said no. After his arrival in Texas, he became the first person diagnosed in the US with the disease. Those he stayed with have been quarantined. Health officials are reaching out to others D. met with. So far, no one else has contracted the virus but there are a lot of questions.  

They can be quiet similar and that can be confusing and keep in mind people come back with fevers and cold, there can be sorts of different things. Here's the big critical difference with Ebola. A travel history and the history of any particular risks is absolutely crucial. This particular gentleman we are talking about in D., for example, went to the hospital on the 26. The first time, went to the hospital himself or herself but was not asked about travel history. When he got on the plane, he wasn't sick; when he got off the plane, he wasn't sick. They're important because one thing that we keep hearing over and over again. I think it's an important point is that you don't spread this virus until you are sick yourself. So, the fact he was known as the incubation period carrying the virus clearly in his body but not spreading it. If someone were land into the United States and have developed symptoms, they got on the plane totally healthy. Got off the plane and now sick, then that would prompt medical evaluation once they got here to the United States. So, the real key of this is trying to detect screen before people get on plane from countreis where Ebola is known to be, such as these 3 countries in West Africa. Part of the problem is that, you know, someone gets sick during the time that they are sick but not yet in the hospital. They come in contact with lots of people. They need to go back and trace those people. It's called contact tracing. If you miss the contact and one of those people get sick, then you can start to have a whole another group of people who can potentially become infected. Ebola can't live outside the body on surfaces. I think that's part of this question. It can't do that. If it's exposed to sunlight obviously, if their hands are really clean or something like that, that would deactivated the virus. But let's say those things don't happen. The virus can live there even for several days. While Ebola can live in all sorts of body fluids. It's less likely to be transmitted through coughs, sneezes; much more likely to be transmitted through blood.