“Of course, the question remains of whether the survivors would be able to salvage stuff from the ruins without getting infected themselves”
I would assume there would be a few people who would be immune for some reason.
My understanding from MA is that when the exposed hosts die the virus dies.
She explained that this is a very targeted virus in general and the mutation is extremely targeted.
Burns fast, spreads like we cannot imagine and then dies with the last warm host.
The virus is very fragile and cannot survive in a non human environment.
Immunity is not the issue - dropping your tools and running to the hills is the issue.
Watch Egypt.
The question becomes one of how long the disease would remain viable, whether it would form spores, whether it would survive in a cadaver or dried bodily fluids, etc.
Perhaps someone who is better versed in virology can give us a guess.