CDC director Dr. Tom Friedman states U.S. ‘surging’ efforts to stop Ebola

by Stepy — August 7, 2014

One important aspect of healthy living is being educated on outbreaks and epidemics and knowing what steps to take to keep your loved ones and yourself safe.
There is an increasing amount of worry building up as health authorities attempt to halt the outbreak of the deadly Ebola in West Africa.
Media outlets such as CNN are reporting that the Ebola outbreak “could have ‘catastrophic’ consequences.”
According to CDC Director Dr. Tom Frieden, The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is now increasing efforts to halt the deadly Ebola outbreak by sending 50 staff members to West Africa to stop it at the source.
“We are surging our response,” Frieden told ABC journalist George Stephanopoulos. “We’re going to put 50 staff on the ground in these three countries to help stop the outbreak in the next 30 days,” he added.
Dr. Kent Brantly, who was infected with the disease while volunteering in Liberia to fight the outbreak, arrived on Saturday at Atlanta’s Emory University Hospital. This makes him the first Ebola patient in the U.S. Another aid worker, Nancy Writebol, will be arriving within the next few days.
Then comments and tweets through social media started such as the ones from Donald Trump.
Donald Trump recently tweeted, urging authorities to “stop all flights from incoming countries.”
Frieden quickly dismissed this tweet by replying: “We’re not going to hermetically seal the borders of the U.S.,”
“We’re reliant and interdependent with the world for travel, for trade, for economy, for our families and communities.
The single most important thing we can do to protect Americans is to stop this disease at the source in Africa,” he added.
This Ebola outbreak has been the deadliest in history, with over 700 people dead so far. The virus is spread through bodily fluids. The outbreak stems mainly from Liberia, Guinea, and Sierra Leone.
While there is still no vaccine, the National Institutes of Health has been working on one for years. They announced an Ebola vaccine trial to launch in September, stating that the vaccine has already shown “”encouraging results” in primates.
“What we can do and what we’re doing is surging our response to put out the embers, because Ebola is really like a forest fire. If you leave one ember burning, it can flare up again. That’s why it’s so important that we control it,” he shared.