According to who? The patient? If he was sick enough to go to the hospital on the 24th it's a safe bet that he was exhibiting symptoms prior to that...you know..symptoms he didn't think were serious enough to go to the hospital with.
No. By all descriptions, Ebola symptoms hit suddenly. He became symptomatic on the 24th and sought medical attention on the 26th. At that time, he was sent home. On the 28th, he again sought medical attention and was then admitted.
I guess, if you are not actually a scientist, it does not strike you just how sensationalist and ridiculous books like The Hot Zone are. I have skimmed over a little of it, just enough to see that the descriptions were over-the-top. The people described are caricatures, not real scientists. Ditto for any events described in the book. I prefer to watch documentaries that portray the real people speaking for themselves, than some writer's overactive imagination of how the real people might have acted.