GG_Will

I think that travel advisory is saying that if you are traveling, and assuming you aren't sick, and you know that a hospital is treating Ebola patients, going into one is not recommended.

I think the important thing to remember is that people with Ebola are most infectious at the latest stages of the disease (and very sadly, after death). People who are infected but in early stages are much less likely to transmit the disease to others because the amount of the virus in their blood and bodily fluids is lower.

It's key for people who think they may be infected with Ebola to seek medical attention right away. Since there's no cure yet, it's through supportive care (reducing the fever, keeping the patient well-hydrated, etc) that people are most likely to survive their infection.

That's not stupid at all! A lot of media coverage lately has been really alarmist, and I'm sorry to hear you're feeling so much anxiety.

Here's the truth as I see it: both of those statements are true, but in different contexts that are important to take into account.

When it comes to the possibility of a widespread outbreak of Ebola in the United States or other developed nations, you should listen to someone who's saying "I'm an expert, everybody calm down" for a few reasons. We have healthcare infrastructure that is absolutely not present in countries like Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea. And while Ebola is highly infectious, it is not highly contagious. I feel like sometimes those words get used interchangeably, but it's different. Ebola can only be spread by human-to-human exchange of bodily fluids, not through the air or water.

But when talking about the state of the outbreak in West Africa, someone saying, "I'm an expert, and nobody is taking this seriously enough" is correct. This is the worst Ebola outbreak in history, far too many people have died already and 39% of all cases have been reported in the past 21 days. The international and local government response is picking up now, but was clearly not fast enough.

So, yes, it's serious, and we should all be concerned about it, and doing whatever's in our power to stop the spread. But please, do not be scared!

Nothing confirmed that I can find. Obviously there have been a lot of rumors swirling during this outbreak.

You can find reliable information on the outbreak on the World Health Organization's Global Alert and Response page. I can find nothing about cases in China there.

The answers from Bisi and Britt are right on. For folks who are looking for other ways to get involved, volunteering with Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team's Ebola mapping project is very helpful.