“It is important to know that individuals are not contagious until symptoms appear.”
Well, the nurse was contagious (she had a fever).
And do we KNOW that individuals are not contagious in all cases, until symptoms appear? Or just in, say, 95% of the cases?
There was a physician who called into Rush on Tuesday and talked about this issue... I think the short answer is no, they don't know that and in fact, there is a good chance that someone will not yet be symptomatic but still be able to pass ebola on.
She had a fever, but that doesn't necessarily mean she was contagious. The virus provokes vomiting and diarrhea in order to gain access to a new host--those symptoms are what makes it contagious. Did the nurse have bouts of diarrhea while on the plane? Is that blue water used to flush airplane toilets disinfectant? I think the chance of transmission to any passenger on that plane is very low, to the cleaning crew a bit higher--if she had diarrhea.
Anyway, she should have gone to a hospital in Ohio when she got the fever. She knew that she was potentially exposed.