My son is asst. manager of a surplus type store in the Wash DC suburbs.
He says that they have had a serious increase in the number of people seeking to acquire.....gas masks!
He has explained that, although they will sell what they want, gas masks are irrelevant in ebola prevention. It does little good, because so many simply will not read & understand how ebola is transmitted. They have sold a number of gas masks.

Like many other issues, pure & simple ignorance is rampant.