M-O-O-N, spells Obola
Bring out your dead! The Dark Man cometh! Bring out your dead! The Dark Man cometh! Bring out your......
How many times is this story going to be posted today?
No doubt. Several will be along shortly to declare their superior knowledge and accuse the people doing the study of scare-mongering.
Is this true?
Nobody is an expert, mainly because there are not a lot of studies on the virus and most studies have small sample sizes. But those studies say there is not much of a threat from fomites: http://jid.oxfordjournals.org/content/196/Supplement_2/S142.full But there are some potential vectors like saliva. The biggest concern right now is we don't know how well the virus will survive in the cold and damp conditions here this winter. I don't think there's too much of a threat from dry surfaces, but cold and damp surfaces could be a problem.
The fact that nobody in the apartment with Duncan got it means indoor contact from victims who are not yet in late stage disease may not be a big threat. Nonzero, but small. Those contacts included kids ages 2, 4, and 6.
I think terrorism s a huge potential threat mainly from the 150 incoming a day from Ebola land. Our odds go up with those kinds of numbers. Also the 150 a day will contain infected, but not-yet-symptomatic victims who will end up infecting and possibly killing American first responders, health care workers and others.