Ebola is here: 5 reasons not to panic

Here are five reasons why you shouldn't panic over Ebola outbreak:

1. It's fragile.

Ebola is an incredibly fragile virus. It does not fly through the air
with the greatest of ease. It cannot be transmitted through a cough or
sneeze. It doesn't move easily from human to human like the common
cold.

Ebola is aggressively infectious, so people who are infected are
highly likely to get sick. But it's not highly contagious.

"The Ebola virus spreads through direct contact with the blood,
secretions or other body fluids of ill people and indirect contact --
for example, with needles and other things that may be contaminated
with these fluids," said Stephan Monroe, deputy director of the
Centers for Disease Control's National Center for Emerging Zoonotic
and Infectious Diseases.

That's why health care providers who work in countries without proper
protective gear can get it. That's also why people preparing bodies
for burial have gotten it.

2. We know how it works.

Although there is no vaccine and no cure, the one real advantage we
have with Ebola is that doctors know how to control it.

Ebola isn't "some mystical pathogen (with) some bizarre mode of
transmission," said Bruce Ribner, who oversees the special isolation
unit that is treating the patients at Emory University Hospital.

Common-sense hygiene can stop its spread.

"Ebola is a virus that can be stopped and not spread in hospitals. The
stakes are higher, but it's easily inactivated with typical hospital
disinfectants," said Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Director Tom Frieden.

What to know about Ebola

3. We have the resources to contain it.

The two American patients with Ebola were flown to the United States
in a plane outfitted with an isolation pod.

They are being kept in isolation at the Emory hospitalwith a
specialized containment ward, one of four in the country.

In the containment ward, the vents are specialized. There's an
intercom and plate glass that separates patients from visitors so they
don't come into direct contact. There's a strict protocol on everyone
and everything that goes into and out of the patient's room. Health
care workers wear protective suits.

But any major medical center could really take care of an Ebola
patient, said William Schaffner, an expert on infectious diseases at
Vanderbilt University's School of Medicine.

Most ICUs have isolation rooms that are used for patients suspected to
have tuberculosis, SARS, Middle East respiratory syndrome or another
infectious disease. Schaffner said that not much would be different
for an Ebola patient, though more stringent precautions might be taken
to ensure that health care workers are following all protocols.

4. Our medical staff is ready.

"We have been training for this," Ribner said of preparations for the
two American Ebola patients. These doctors know how to handle Ebola
and will use an abundance of caution when working with an infected
person.

Medical workers across the country have also been told to watch out
for Ebola symptoms and question patients who have recently traveled to
West Africa. They are trained to recognize Ebola cases and can
quarantine them early, keeping others from coming into contact with an
infected person's bodily fluids while the disease runs its course.

9 questions about this new Ebola drug

5. Airports are on alert.

At African airports in the Ebola-affected region, passengers are being
closely screened. Health experts are watching for people with high
fevers. Those who have a temperature are removed and monitored while
doctors test their blood for Ebola.

When passengers arrive at the airport, they are required to wash their
hands in a chlorinated solution. Customs agents and passport
inspectors are also wearing surgical gloves when interacting with
passengers.

"There is always the possibility that someone with an infectious
disease can enter the United States," CDC spokeswoman Barbara Reynolds
said Monday. "The public health concern is whether it would spread
and, if so, how quickly.'"

What is the risk of catching Ebola on a plane?

At U.S. airports, trained federal agents also watch for sick
passengers. Border patrol is asking about potential exposure. If
someone is sick, agents can remove them and keep them in the special
isolation units kept at many U.S. airports until the CDC arrives to
ask further questions.

Overall, health experts say, the threat to Americans remains
relatively small. In the past decade, five people have entered the
U.S. known to have a viral hemorrhagic fever.

From CNN Health.