Protective suit maker Lakeland Industrials, Alpha Pro Tech climb as Ebola fears spread

Shares of companies that make protective clothing continued to jump Friday, as fear festered over the spread of the deadly Ebola virus.

Lakeland Industries Inc. and Alpha Pro Tech Ltd. both rose while broader trading indexes slipped Friday morning

Lakeland Industries makes a ChemMax 1 protective suit with sealed seams. It states on its website that the product is well-suited for the dangerous environment of working with Ebola patients. It also describes the latest outbreak of the disease in a section entitled "EBOLA" on the website's home page.

Alpha Pro Tech makes lab coats, gowns and protective hoods, among other products.

There are no approved medications for Ebola, which has killed at least 3,800 people in West Africa and infected at least 8,000, according to the World Health Organization. The United States and other countries are starting to take precautions to prevent Ebola's spread that include screening visitors who arrive from West Africa. Earlier this week, a patient with the virus who had been to Liberia died in Dallas.

Five Americans with Ebola also have returned home for treatment.

The virus that causes Ebola is not airborne and can only be spread through direct contact with bodily fluids of an infected person who is showing symptoms.

Shares of Lakeland climbed more than 7 percent, or $1.27, to $18.99, while Alpha Pro Tech jumped 24 percent, or $1.16, to $6. The shares of both companies also climbed Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday in heavy trading.