WASHINGTON — The head of the Centers for Disease Control says the organization’s bottom line is reducing the Ebola risk to Americans. But many are wondering why, if that’s the case, travel to and from the West African nations at the heart of the outbreak continues.
In a press conference Monday, the CDC’s director, Dr. Tom Frieden, said limiting travel to and from Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea would hamper efforts to control Ebola from spreading.
“If we do things that unintentionally make it harder to get that response in, to get those supplies in and make it harder for those governments to manage to get everything from economic activity to travel going, its going to become much harder to stop the outbreak at the source,” Frieden says.
The CDC’s 150 top disease detectives are working with the Department of Defense, USAID and the World Health Organization to turn the outbreak around. If they were unable to get full access to those countries, it could make the situation worse.
“If that were to happen, it would spread for more months and potentially to other countries and that would increase not decrease the risk to Americans,” Frieden says.
Meanwhile, Ebola screenings are being set up at five U.S. airports this week including Dulles on Thursday.
Screenings have already started at New Yorks’ JFK Airport, however no one screened so far has tested positive for Ebola-like symptoms.
“We began screening people who came from these three countries also with a detailed questionnaire and temperature check. Since that was implemented, 91 individuals were identified. None of them had a fever. Five of them were referred for additional evaluation by the CDC. None were determined to have exposure to Ebola,” Frieden says.
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