3 reasons an Ebola outbreak in the USA is highly unlikely

How unlikely is an Ebola virus outbreak in the USA now that health officials have confirmed the first diagnosis in this country?

Very, experts say.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Tuesday one person with Ebola was being treated in Dallas. A second person who was in contact with that patient is now being monitored for Ebola.

Here are three reasons why it's extremely unlikely that Ebola would spread to the USA:

1. Medical environment

The difference between the quality of medical care and facilities in West Africa and the United States is striking.

The areas where the outbreak has spread — Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia — are "some of the poorest places on planet Earth," said Thomas Geisbert, a professor of microbiology and immunology at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston.

More than 6,500 people are infected in those three countries and 3,000 have died, according to the World Health Organization.

The key to controlling Ebola is diagnosing and then isolating the patient, but not all clinics in Africa have isolation wards, he said.

Clinics and hospitals in Africa are so overrun they are turning away patients, and sometimes health workers don't have all the proper protective gear, like gloves and gowns, Geisbert said.

"It's hard for us as Americans to comprehend something like that," he said.

CDC Director Thomas Frieden said he had "no doubt" that the single confirmed Ebola case in the United States could be controlled.

"It is certainly possible that someone who has had contact with this patient could develop Ebola, but there is no doubt in my mind that we will stop it here," he said at a news conference Tuesday.

Frieden said any hospital that can isolate someone can treat a patient for Ebola.

2. Cultural rites

The tradition of kissing and touching corpses in funeral rites are part of the reason Ebola has spread in West Africa.

"There are very strong traditional beliefs and traditional funeral rites which require that the whole family touch the dead body," said Peter Piot, director of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, in an interview with Religion News Service.

Mourners also have a meal in the presence of the body, Piot said.

In the United States, these rituals involving the dead are uncommon.

3. Mistrust, lack of information in West Africa

Decades of political instability and civil wars in West Africa have fueled mistrust of government officials, according to WHO.

Two weeks ago, eight people in Guinea were killed while trying to educate locals about Ebola.

"They are in a post-conflict behavior, there is lack of trust obviously between these populations and the different governments for the three countries," said Pierre Formenty of WHO's Epidemic and Pandemic Alert and Response, reports Reuters.

UNICEF workers are trying to combat doubts and fears around the virus.

"There are rumors how Ebola can be cured through certain traditional treatments," said Rafael Obregon, UNICEF's chief of communication for development.

"In Guinea, there's been a lot of mistrust around whether Ebola exists or whether some actors are trying to spread Ebola into some communities," he added.

Some locals are also wary of hospitals, afraid to bring in deceased loved ones out of fear they won't see the body again, he said.

"Just providing accurate information is not enough. ... Our teams are focused on creating a dialogue," Obregon said.