There are fairly basic steps to prevent HIV or Hep C. The worry has been if Ebola really gets loose and how quickly that could utterly fuck the world up.
I always thought the issue with Ebola was how quickly the host dies. If there were a period of about a week where no symptoms arose, then the virus would become significantly more deadly.
Until then, it doesn't seem probable that the host lives long enough to spread the virus.
Then again, my info is based off of what I researched in school around the mid 90s (fresh off of reading The Hot Zone).
"If there were a period of about a week where no symptoms arose, then the virus would become significantly more deadly."
This is precisely the problem with the new Ebola Zaire strain: the incubation period varies from ~3-21 days, during which the patient may show no symptoms yet can spread the virus. And since Ebola Zaire's mortality rate is 60-90% (early estimates were on the high end) this is an epidemiologist's nightmare.
They've certainly killed more people, but the terrifying thing about ebola is how very contagious it is.