We shouldn't underestimate it: Ebola is FAR more contagious than HIV or hepatitis.

[Yo_Mama]

63. There's a huge difference between the early stages and the later stages

In the later stages, the person has tremendously high levels of virus in their blood and other body fluids. A cough, tears, saliva, sweat. These patients are horrifically ill, they may be disoriented, and they may go through stages when they're vomiting or retching or coughing and spewing virus-infected droplets into the air.

In the earlier stages, it would generally be internal infections without superficial virus. It is very dangerous to be close to a severely ill Ebola patient without PPE. It's not dangerous at all to be around most of these patients in the early stages. The only risk would be intimate contact.

So I think you are both right and wrong!

The reason CDC guidelines call for immediate isolation of suspected patients is that, depending on the stage, they are potentially infectious to others:
http://www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/hcp/infection-prevention-and-control-recommendations.html

Note that the patient is expected to be isolated in a room with a closed door and that control measures are supposed to be in place to prevent anyone without PPE from entering.