[adevine]

I read another article that explained how Ebola is very infectious (meaning that very few virions are needed to establish an infection), but not particularly transmissible (i.e. it's not airborne, and thus much less contagious than something like the flu or measles).

While westerners are becoming infected, I don't think it's that hard to see how the extremely poor health care facilities in West Africa would make it very difficult to follow proper protocol, even if you knew what you were doing.

[crpatino]

Even in US settings, compliance with basic hygiene protocols may be below 50% [1]. This happens mostly in overcrowded facilities where personnel has been cut to run at or near capacity most of the time.

The most salient factor is indirect contact. Health care workers are aware that they must wash their hands after having contact with a sick patient, but it is extremely hard to remember to take similar steps after touching any surface such patient might have touched himself, even if it looks clean to the bare eye.

[1] http://prosperouswaydown.com/ebola-game-changer/

[ghshephard]

" Health care workers are aware that they must wash their hands after having contact with a sick patient"

Take that a step up - Health Care workers must wash their hands after having contact with any patient and before touching any patient (and themselves for that matter).

http://www.cdc.gov/features/handwashing/

It takes 20 seconds, and is probably one of the most effective ways of preventing the spread of various infections/diseases.