Ebola Question?

Concerning this outbreak of Ebola there is a nagging question that begs for an answer.

Why is it the government experts keep telling us the Ebola virus can be spread only by personal contact with an Ebola infected person or his/her bodily fluids; whereas, they go to great lengths to disinfect the apartments of the two nurses that contacted Ebola, and disinfect the commercial airplane on which the nurse flew from Cleveland to Dallas?

They, the government experts, surely must have cause to believe the Ebola virus has the inherent capability to linger in the ambient surroundings of an Ebola infected person.  There appears to be a contradiction here.