A Texas man who traveled to Liberia earlier this month has been diagnosed with Ebola, the first such case in the United States.
CDC Director Tom Frieden said the man is “very ill,” but doctors are working diligently to save his life and prevent a national outbreak.
“I have no doubt that we will control this importation, this case of Ebola, so that it does not spread widely in this country,” Frieden said. “We’re stopping it in its tracks in this country.”
Frieden added that it’s unlikely anyone in the hospital will contract the disease as Texas Health Presbyterian has a “robust infection control system.” He also noted that the CDC has reached out to a “handful” of people who the man had come in contact with in America before his symptoms flared.
The CDC is still attempting to determine how the man contracted the Ebola virus.
“While we do not know how this individual became infected,” Frieden said, [he] “undoubtedly had close contact with someone who was sick from Ebola or who had died from it.”
The Texas man was the first American to be diagnosed with the disease while in the states. Four other Americans were diagnosed with Ebola while working in Africa before being flown back to the United States. Three have recovered and been discharged from the hospital, while a fourth is still receiving treatment in an Atlanta hospital.
Dr. Silverman comments
Turn on any news station and you probably won’t have to wait long before you hear a new story concerning the Ebola virus, and while it is certainly a scary disease, like most things, the media tends to over-sensationalize the story.
Ebola isn’t transferred through the air or by simply being near a person with the virus. Ebola must be transmitted by contact of bodily fluids. It is not possible to contract this present strain of virus unless you have contact with the person.
Sanitation systems in the United States are strong and robust; Therefore it is very unlikely for transmission or an epidemic to break out.
Related source: MedPage Today