[Chad_the_Impaler]

Hard to catch at first, but much easier when the patient is liquifying or already dead.

[JohnBovenmyer]

Makes sense to me: not very contagious in the early stages, very contagious in the late ones. I've noted many stress the poor conditions in Africa making it easier to spread. However I've not seen anyone comment on how the intensity of modern US medical care places more people at some risk. Once their dying in Africa and at their most contagious they probably have contact with very few people. Our contacts should be better protected, but are numerous. Duncan, IIRC, had 60 or 70 contacts at the hospital, many of them multiple times. Does our greater safety margin compensate for our more numerous exposures? I'm not sure. A multilayered defense is best. Our first layer—the State Department—is far leakier than those in Africa.