It's hard to comment on the specific likelihood, but a few general observations:
1. Ebola transmits via bodily fluids (blood, mucus). Plus, Ebola does not establish a chronic infection in a host. Pathogens with those characteristics usually don't spread that fast / wide.
2. Past observations support 1) - transmission in airplanes has never been observed AFAIK.
3. Infected people can transmit the virus while having a fever, and through later stages of disease. This means you can identify potentially contagious people quickly, which helps control efforts.
4. Having said that, there are lots of things we don't know about Ebola, and it's always best to plan for the worst.
The diseases that keep me up at night are those that spread via airborne or vector transmission & have lots of asymptomatic carriers. Ebola has neither of those. Nevertheless, as far as Ebola outbreaks go, this one is the worst yet and correspondingly worrying.
1. Ebola transmits via bodily fluids (blood, mucus). Plus, Ebola does not establish a chronic infection in a host. Pathogens with those characteristics usually don't spread that fast / wide.
2. Past observations support 1) - transmission in airplanes has never been observed AFAIK.
3. Infected people can transmit the virus while having a fever, and through later stages of disease. This means you can identify potentially contagious people quickly, which helps control efforts.
4. Having said that, there are lots of things we don't know about Ebola, and it's always best to plan for the worst.
The diseases that keep me up at night are those that spread via airborne or vector transmission & have lots of asymptomatic carriers. Ebola has neither of those. Nevertheless, as far as Ebola outbreaks go, this one is the worst yet and correspondingly worrying.