Why now?
Because there is no unity from the Government over how to handle it, like it has been in the past.
Really?
Let me see here.
An ebola patient goes to a private hospital in Texas with symptoms of ebola. He tells them that he's from Liberia. He has a 103 degree temperature. He also doesn't have insurance. So the private hospital put the safety of the community and possibly the nation at risk, diagnoses the man with a sinus infection and sends him out on the street.
The man returns days later in an ambulance. Does the hospital do the right thing? No. Does the hospital call the CDC? No. The patient's nephew called the CDC saying that the hospital wasn't treating him properly for his condition.
The CDC, that is owned and controlled by the government, takes over. However it's too late for that man and he dies.
Two nurses are diagnosed with ebola. The CDC and National Institute of Health, both government agencies, treat them. They both recover. No one else is infected from those women.
The nation is put through a couple weeks of ridiculous paranoia and screams that Obama is bringing ebola to America. Obama wants to kill Americans with ebola and a long list of other ridiculous claims.
The nurses get better and recover. No ebola outbreak. No ebola epidemic. People aren't dying in the streets.
A private hospital causes this mess. The government cleaned it up.