Ebola – a word on everyone's lips that was practically unheard of a few months ago.

Ebola is a disease that has been claiming hundreds of lives a week for the past few months a half a world away from us.

But it has come to the United States. It's in Texas now, but this infectious disease has become a globe-trotter.

Health officials are asking the nation's hospitals to "think Ebola," according to a directive Monday by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Tom Frieden. Area hospitals are responding.

The CDC is urging hospitals to be on the lookout for patients who have traveled from Africa within the past 21 days complaining of a fever or other Ebola like symptoms.

Frieden spoke after a nurse in Dallas, Texas, became the first person to catch the disease within the United States.

The woman had been caring for a Liberian man who brought the disease to this country.

All of the health care professionals who cared for the Liberian victim before his death are now being closely monitored, due to what officials are calling a "lapse in protocol" at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital.

According to the CDC website, as of Friday, based on reports from the World Health Organization, there are 8,400 Ebola cases, 4,656 laboratory-confirmed Ebola cases and 4,033 Ebola-related deaths.

The 2014 Ebola epidemic is the largest in history, affecting many nations in West Africa.

Local response

Hospitals within the Times News coverage area are taking the CDC directive seriously.

St. Luke's University Health Network, Lehigh Valley Health Network and Blue Mountain Health System are all following the CDC precautionary guidelines and have put those protocols into practice.

Lisa Johnson, BMHS media relations coordinator and Terry Purcell, head of the Hospital Emergency Response Team and vice president of Ambulatory and Support Services, note that BMHS hospitals started preparing for a possible outbreak last week.

Johnson said, "Our staff has become more vigilant and are undergoing refreshers on things such as the proper use of their personal protection equipment. We've scheduled reminder in-service sessions, especially for our emergency room staff," she adds.

"We're being very deliberate," Purcell said. "We're following the CDC's algorithm and have the steps to take in place. Every patient who comes in to our hospitals is being screened and our emergency rooms have designated isolation areas. Anyone who has traveled to one of the three African countries where serious outbreaks are occurring will be isolated. We will then contact our infectious disease consultant partners at Lehigh Valley Health Network."

BMHS is also reaching out to their partners in emergency services, such as ambulance personnel.

"We all have to work together, be on the same page," Johnson said.

"We are working with all of our partners to ensure the safety of our patients and our staff," Purcell said.

Terry Burger, director of Infection Control and Prevention at LVHN, said the network has prepared for the possibility of Ebola, or any other emerging infectious disease by "preparing and distributing educational materials, signs and clinical guidelines, developing a comprehensive policy, stockpiling supplies, providing ongoing education, identifying isolation locations and reinforcing communication."

St. Luke's University Health Network is also following the CDC guidelines, Denise Rader, St. Luke's University Health Network Director, Network Media Relations, said Monday.

"The Sacred Heart Hospital multidisciplinary team met to discuss and prepare safe policies and procedures to safely manage a patient with suspected Ebola," Barbara J. Wood, Sacred Heart Health Care System spokeswoman, said in an email.

What is Ebola?

Ebola virus disease was formerly known as Ebola hemorrhagic fever. It is acute, which means it comes on suddenly, usually within two, but could be as long as 21 days, from time of exposure.

Symptoms include fever, headache, vomiting, diarrhea, muscle pain and/or bleeding, according to the CDC. The symptoms mimic those of many contagious illnesses, including the flu.

Transmitted to people from wild animals, it then spreads through human-to-human transmission by way of direct contact (through broken skin or mucous membranes) with the blood, secretions, organs or other bodily fluids of infected people, as well as with surfaces and materials (e.g. bedding, clothing) contaminated with these fluids. People become infectious as soon as the symptoms appear and remain infectious as long as their blood and body fluids, contain the virus.

Men who have recovered from the disease can still transmit the virus through their semen for up to 7 weeks after recovery from illness. Nursing mothers may spread the disease through their breast milk.

It is severe, often fatal, in humans, with fatality rates varying by outbreak, from 25 percent to 90 percent.

The first Ebola outbreaks occurred in remote villages in Central Africa, near tropical rain forests. It was named for the 1976 outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo, in a village near the Ebola River.

As of today, there are no licensed Ebola vaccines, although two potential candidates are undergoing evaluation.

Paul Willistein contributed to this report.