I am absolutely sure of this. Ebola has never been documented to transmit by aerosols (which are not droplets). All cases of Ebola have been traced to direct contact transmission. One paper mentioned the possibility of fomite transmission, but it was inconclusive.
Droplets, by definition, are 5 micrometers or larger in diameter, and fall to the ground quickly. Patients *might* generate droplets, but those droplets would only be infectious if they are contaminated by blood. The cells that produce mucus are not infected by Ebola.
Aerosols are particles smaller than 5 micrometers, that are capable of hovering in the air for prolonged periods, or can travel on breezes. The majority of aerosol particles emitted by humans are less than 1 micrometer in diameter. These particles dry quickly, making them inhospitable for Ebola viruses. They would also expose virus to UV light, which destroys them. Furthermore, since the virus is fairly large, it is questionable whether such small particles could contain enough virus to cause an infection.
The laboratory aerosolization experiments do NOT represent a natural transmission of virus. In those, the virus was atomized directly into animals' faces, in a manner that is not analogous to a biological process at all.
For Ebola to become airborne, it would have to change the cells it infects. It has no reason to do this--it transmits well enough the way it is. Plus, according to top virologists, no virus has ever changed its mode of transmission.
As sure as you were that the CDC hospital protocol prescribed Biosafety Level 4 protocol, rather than Level 2?