I wouldn't call it highly contagious. That should be reserved for things that can spread through the air not things like Ebola which require contact with bodily fluids to transmit.
Indeed, one of the criteria for being a BSL4 pathogen is either being likely to cause severe or fatal disease in humans and not having a readily available treatment.
Ebola qualifies as that regardless of its contagiousness. Similarly, one of the most contagious diseases out there, measles, does not, because it is easily vaccinated against.
Ebola Reston (which fortunately only affected non-human primates) did spread through the air, or at least that's the only plausible explanation as to how it spread.
While the outbreak strain of Ebola may not be airborne now, it's not inconceivable that it could mutate at some point.
"In the first known case of what may be transmission of the Ebola virus from a pig to a human, a pig handler in the Philippines has tested positive for a strain of the virus, world health officials and the Philippine government announced Friday."
"But the strain — Ebola Reston — is not known to be dangerous to humans, and the worker, who was infected at least six months ago, is healthy, officials said."
I've heard that the caretaking of victims and handling of the dead is entirely responsible for all of the cases. I'm not sure that there's evidence of any casual transmission.
Facts are important here. Families and friends share things like food, water and probably plates and things. I personally don't have any facts to refute your argument, but would be wary to allege anything based on "what you heard" from sources you didn't name.
Ebola qualifies as that regardless of its contagiousness. Similarly, one of the most contagious diseases out there, measles, does not, because it is easily vaccinated against.