As counter-intuitive as that sounds, do not get in your car and drive straight for the emergency room. First, call your doctor and local ER to let them know that you suspect that you’ve contracted the virus, and follow their instructions for how to get treatment. Once you’ve done that, follow up with a call to the local health department and the CDC, who can mobilize to give you the best odds for survival.

According to the CDC, If you have not begun showing symptoms but have recently traveled to an area where there have been confirmed cases, shared a plane with an infected person, or have another reason to suspect that you’ve been exposed, take your temperature and do a self-inventory.

People who have been in any of these situations should monitor themselves for a minimum of 10 days. You’ll want to take your temperature several times a day to make sure you don’t get a fever above 100.4 - and if this happens, or if you start to develop the flu-like symptoms outlined above, you’ll want to contact your doctor immediately.

Let your doctor or emergency medical care provider know that you have reason to suspect that your flu-like symptoms may be something more, and provide as much detail as possible to the health unit so that you can assist with tracking potential transmissions (e.g., if you’ve traveled by plane after the onset of symptoms, provide a flight number and date and time). Once you’ve begun to show symptoms, you are contagious, and you should take appropriate steps to limit your risk of spreading the disease to others, such as avoiding contact with children or other family members.

Catch Early For Best Odds

Early diagnosis and supportive care, including rehydration through oral and IV fluids and symptomatic treatment improves the chance of survival. While there are no licensed treatments currently available, several therapies are under development, including blood products, immune and drug therapies, and there are two potential candidates for an Ebola vaccine.

Those who survive the disease need to take appropriate steps to avoid passing the virus on to relatives and loved ones with whom they come into contact. Survivors, despite having gotten past the active stages of the disease, are still contagious for as long as their blood and bodily fluids, including semen and breast milk, contain the virus. For example, men who have recovered can still spread the virus through their semen for up to 7 weeks after their symptoms have passed.

Limiting Its Reach

Community engagement is essential to limiting outbreaks, as is a civic emergency plan and strong hospital safety policies. Policies that include interventions, surveillance and contact tracing, and safe burials will limit the spread of an outbreak from the top down, but raising public awareness of the risk factors and symptoms of Ebola and necessary protective measures is key to reducing transmission, but in the US and in the countries where outbreaks happen with greater frequency.