Do you think Ebola in Africa IS totally different than Ebola in the United States? Or do you think it's the same virus that infects and kills in the same manner?
Earlier this year there was only ONE case of Ebola in Africa. Was it NOT a dangerous disease back in March?
The virus is the same, but the culture and infrastructure are completely different.
If a tornado is observed to cause little property damage when it sweeps through fields, but causes massive damage and loss of life when it sweeps through a residential area, the difference is not in the destructive power of the tornado. The difference is in the area where the tornado appears.
Those countries where the Ebola outbreak keeps on going are all countries that have been devastated by years of civil war. They have poor infrastructure, and terribly inadequate healthcare. Even in hospitals, most nursing care is provided by family members. They have burial customs that involve washing and touching the dead. The conditions in those countries essentially create perfect storms for Ebola to continue infecting people.
Here in the US, the cultural and infrastructural conditions that lead to continued transmission of the disease in Africa do not exist. Now, there *is* a problem in that the hospital in Dallas was not ready for this--completely inexcusable. Other hospitals have dealt with Ebola-like diseases without a single secondary transmission of the disease. We know how to control infection and stamp out outbreaks; we do this all the time, and the CDC is a crucial part of this effort.