Yes, that was an issue. However, that’s very different than saying “spread the disease before they are even symptomatic” and “prior to any obvious contact with a blatantly sick person.” With Ebola, you are sick. It can present like other things at first, but you are still noticeably sick when you can transmit, unlike many other diseases. And unlike much more worrying diseases for the US, especially when it comes to air travel, Ebola can only be transmitted directly, so it is less of an issue and much, much more easily contained than, say, the flu, which still kills a decent number of people every year. Does that mean it can’t be spread? Of course not. But it is very different, and once you know it’s in an area, it’s immeasurably easier to quarantine those possibly infected and cut it off. The hospital didn’t do it’s due diligence this time (because, frankly, if it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck the first thing you go to is not normally “killer wereduck”) but you can bet that every medical professional in the Dallas area is now going to be sure to check if there’s a chance in one of their patients.
Ebola is bad enough already, but mostly for Africans. We do not need to add it to by freaking out over something we can handle. I’m reminded of people on the west coast making themselves sick after Fukishima by taking tons of KI tablets for radiation poisoning they couldn’t possibly be exposed to. Or @BeenThereSaidThat‘s inexplicable xenophobia upthread. Not to say that’s just you, it’s a good chunk of this Q besides. But if people lose their heads it’ll just make it worse.