As Ebola's Spread Continues, Key Questions and Answers About Virus

Where did the disease come from, how does it spread, and can it mutate?

As the first patient diagnosed with Ebola outside of West Africa continues to receive treatment in a Dallas hospital—and as the deadly disease continues to spread in Liberia, Guinea, and Sierra Leone—more people are asking questions about the virus.

Is the United States really prepared to stop its spread? Can the virus be shared on the subway? Is it mutating?

This week, U.S. public health officials worked to allay fears about the disease's possible spread. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is closely monitoring about 50 people who came into contact with the first Ebola patient to be diagnosed in the U.S., Thomas Eric Duncan.

Four of Duncan's close family members are now quarantined in the apartment where

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