ealth-care providers in developed countries are finally waking up to the fact that they need to prepare for imported Ebola cases like those seen this week in Dallas and Madrid. In the United Kingdom, where no cases have been reported, two major hospitals are beginning drills this weekend to simulate the arrival of an Ebola patient, according to the Daily Mail. The paper noted some hospitals had not yet received recommended protective gear.

As many as 200 workers at New York’s LaGuardia Airport began striking late Wednesday as part of their efforts to gain a contract with Atlanta’s Air Serv, an airport contractor for Delta Air Lines, using the attention Ebola has received as a way to address the nastier aspects of their jobs.

Public health officials are reaching out to as many as a hundred people who may have come into contact with the first Ebola patient to be diagnosed in the U.S., quizzing them about their interactions with the man, who has been identified as Thomas Eric Duncan.

Nurses argue that inadequate preparation could increase the chances of spreading Ebola if hospital staff fail to recognize a patient coming through their doors, or if personnel are not informed about how to properly protect themselves.

Since a Liberian man tested positive for Ebola in Dallas a week ago and officials announced on Monday that a nurse in Spain had been infected by the virus there, calls have been pouring into the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from doctors and nurses wanting help in protecting themselves and their employees from the disease. Associations of infection specialists, hospital care managers and other health providers are also calling.

Despite national guidelines for evaluating potential Ebola cases and worldwide awareness of an epidemic that has killed thousands in West Africa, a man who later tested positive for the disease was released from a Dallas hospital even though he said he had traveled to Texas from Liberia.

Watch Bonnie Castillo, Director of NNU's Registered Nurse Response Network discuss Ebola preparedness in U.S. hospitals.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is assuring the public that the nation's hospitals stand ready to handle cases of Ebola, but in a survey, nurses across the country say they fear their hospitals are not ready.