Your questions about Ebola answered #Facts Not Fear

How does Ebola spread?

Through close contact with a symptomatic person's bodily fluids, such as blood, sweat, vomit, feces, urine, saliva or semen. Those fluids must have an entry point, like a cut or scrape or someone touching the nose, mouth or eyes with contaminated hands, or being splashed. That's why health care workers wear protective gloves and other equipment.

The World Health Organization says blood, feces and vomit are the most infectious fluids, while the virus is found in saliva mostly once patients are severely ill and the whole live virus has never been culled from sweat.

Click here for more information from the Centers for Disease Control

Click here for Ebola information from the North Carolina Department of Heath and Human Services

If someone with Ebola coughs blood or vomits can those droplets infect those unprotected in a close range?

Yes. Droplet spread may be possible if a person is standing very close.

What about more casual contact?

Ebola isn't airborne. Dr. Tom Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, has said people don't get exposed by sitting next to someone on the bus.

"This is not like flu. It's not like measles, not like the common cold. It's not as spreadable, it's not as infectious as those conditions," he added.

How soon after infection do symptoms show and how long is one contagious?

Commonly 8-10 days, but rarely ranges 2-21 days. Ebola patients are only contagious when symptomatic, so monitoring travelers is an important tool.

Who gets tested when Ebola is suspected?

Hospitals with a suspected case call their health department or the CDC to go through a checklist to determine the person's level of risk. Among the questions are whether the person reports a risky contact with a known Ebola patient, how sick they are, and whether an alternative diagnosis is more likely. Most initially suspicious cases in the U.S. haven't met the criteria for testing.

How is it cleaned up?

The CDC says bleach and other hospital disinfectants kill Ebola. Dried virus on surfaces survives only for several hours.

How do you know when a patient has been cured of Ebola?

After 21 days without symptoms

Is Ebola a virus like the flu which goes away, or pox which can reappear, or like HIV which is forever?

Once a patient has recovered, the Ebola virus is not retained in the body.

How long can the Ebola virus survive outside the body?

It varies a lot (temp, humidity, pH, etc), but Ebola can survive from 1-2 days outside the body.

Why aren't travelers from Ebola stricken countries being quarantined for 21 days?

Risk of a traveler spreading Ebola in U.S. is low. Travelers are encouraged to monitor health on return.