Officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Wednesday there is no way to eliminate the risk of Ebola in America without controlling the virus in West Africa.
“We remain convinced we can contain the outbreak in West Africa,” Tom Frieden, the director of the CDC, told reporters. “If we fail to do that, it will be a very difficult situation, and it could become a long-term risk to the United States.”
Frieden said the West African nations of Sierra Leone and Guinea are experiencing increases in Ebola cases, while Liberia has experienced a decrease in cases.
“The challenge is how rapidly the disease is spreading,” Frieden said. “In West Africa, we are far from being out of the woods.”
Dallas Ebola victim Thomas Eric Duncan, the sole person diagnosed with virus in the United States, died Wednesday morning.
Frieden said that 48 people who came into contact with Duncan show no signs of Ebola so far, but will still require nearly an additional two weeks of monitoring.
Duncan, 42, arrived last week from the Ebola-stricken nation of Liberia and was initially sent home from the hospital with antibiotics.
Duncan was given the experimental drug brincidofovir but he did not receive Zmapp, which some believe can successfully treat Ebola.
Frieden said Duncan did not get Zmapp because “there is no more of it left in the world.”
The drug is being produced, Frieden said, but “it takes a long time to develop it.”
The CDC Wednesday announced it will increase screening at five international airports, which Frieden said are where 95 percent of the approximately 150 airline travelers arriving daily from West Africa to the United States land.
The screening includes questioning passengers from Ebola-stricken countries, taking their temperatures and monitoring them for other symptoms.
“As long as Ebola is spreading in Africa, it will remain a risk here,” Frieden said. “We will do everything we can to stop it at the source and protect everyone here.”
Frieden repeated his stated opposition to closing flights from West Africa to the United States.
“The problem with that approach is it makes it extremely difficult to respond to the outbreak,” Frieden said. “It’s difficult to get health care workers in, because they can’t get back out. It will then spread to other parts of Africa and increase the risk here.”
