The Ebola virus is actually pretty hard to catch. The easiest viruses to catch are the respiratory viruses—things like influenza and the cold viruses. Since Ebola is not a respiratory virus, it is not normally contained within the nasal secretions. It also is not airborne. It is a bloodborne pathogen, and as such, does not spread by casual contact.
Monrovia, in Liberia, is a city of close to a million people. It is also the center of the outbreak right now. Even there, in the heart of the outbreak, there just aren’t that many cases. If Ebola were very contagious, it would have swept across the entire continent of Africa by now, and be moving across Europe, Asia, the Americas, etc. Look how quickly the influenza virus moves—it goes around the entire world in weeks.
It is present in all body fluids, including snot, sweat and spit. When someone sneezes, coughs or breathes the virus goes out with the fluid. That's why the cdc recommends at least a three foot buffer for those without ppe.
Monrovia, in Liberia, is a city of close to a million people. It is also the center of the outbreak right now. Even there, in the heart of the outbreak, there just aren’t that many cases. If Ebola were very contagious, it would have swept across the entire continent of Africa by now, and be moving across Europe, Asia, the Americas, etc. Look how quickly the influenza virus moves—it goes around the entire world in weeks.
I think you're confusing the different strains of influenza and/or common colds. There are dozens, if not hundreds, of strains of influenza all of which are closely related. One "strain" does not circle around the world in weeks. The Spanish flu, a very virulent flu, took a year before it mutated into a milder form.
By comparison the Zaire strain of Ebola has only been in the wild since spring of this year...for what...7 or 8 months..and has already spread far beyond it's original origin. Cases are doubling every 3 or 4 weeks. One doesn't have to be a math expert to figure that within a year using a doubling every month there will be over 61,000,000 new cases with about 70% of them dying...or 43,000,000 dead. In a year.
Now yes, I'll grant it would spread faster if it were a flu, BUT only because a symptom of the flu is sneezing and cough which spreads it more. But a virus is a virus. Once it's outside of the body via sweating, coughing, sneezing, spitting, bleeding, snot whatever it's out and is just as infectious. Ebola even more so because it takes a very small viral load to infect.
If you don't think it's a big deal then you must believe it's going to be stopped somehow. What exactly is going to stop the Eboloa virus in West Africa?