Epidemiologically or not, the textbook definition of contagious is as follows:
con·ta·gious [kuhn-tey-juhs]
1. capable of being transmitted by bodily contact with an infected person or object: contagious diseases.
2.carrying or spreading a contagious disease.
3.tending to spread from person to person: contagious laughter.
This is a contagious disease, I have seen several epidemiologists state exactly that. I have also seen them state that if this was airborne, it would become a pandemic and be unlike anything we have seen if it mutated and maintained the same mortality rate among the infected.
I did read a bit more and I believe it could be classified either way, but it sounds to be more technically infectious than “contagious”.
Honestly I think that’s picking nits a bit here, because people who know how to and are taking precautions are falling ill with Ebola, so I’d say we’ve crossed that rubicon.
That’s my $.02.
General usage dictionary definitions are not the same as those in technical lexicons.
Glad you kept reading.