The CDC added: “The spread of Ebola in West Africa so far shows us how difficult this outbreak will be to control – but we can control it.” More than 930 people have died during the Ebola outbreak, while there have been more than 1,700 suspected and confirmed cases. During Wednesday’s U.S.-Africa Summit, President Barack Obama stated that the deadly disease can be controlled. “What we do know is that the Ebola virus, both currently and in the past, is controllable if you have a strong public health infrastructure in place,” Obama said...

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CDC Issues Highest Alert Response Over
Ebola Outbreak
August 7, 2014 11:05 AM
In this handout from the Center for Disease Control (CDC), a colorized transmission electron micrograph (TEM) of a Ebola virus
virion is seen. (credit: Center for Disease Control (CDC) via Getty Images)
Related Tags: CDC, Dr. Tom Frieden, Ebola, President Barack Obama, West Africa, World Health Organization
ATLANTA (CBS Atlanta/AP) — The Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention has issued its highest
alert activation over the Ebola outbreak.
CDC Director Dr. Tom Frieden announced on Twitter
Wednesday that their operations center has moved to
a Level 1 response.
“@CDCEmergency Ops Center moved to Level 1
response to Ebola outbreak given the extension to
Nigeria & potential to affect many lives,” Frieden
tweeted.
.@CDCEmergency Ops Center moved to Level 1
response to #EbolaOutbreak given the extension
to Nigeria & potential to affect many lives.
—
Dr. Tom Frieden (@DrFriedenCDC) August 06,
2014
The CDC previously issued Level 1 responses in 2009
for the bird flu outbreak and the Hurricane Katrina
aftermath in 2005.
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2. “As Ebola outbreak escalates in West Africa, CDC is doing all that we can to cointain it and
prevent further spread,” the agency tweeted.
As #Ebola outbreak escalates in West Africa, CDC is doing all that we can to contain it
and prevent further spread.
—
CDC (@CDCgov) August 06, 2014
The CDC added: “The spread of Ebola in West Africa so far shows us how difficult this outbreak
will be to control – but we can control it.”
The spread of #Ebola in West Africa so far shows us how difficult this outbreak will be to
control—but we can control it.
—
CDC (@CDCgov) August 06, 2014
More than 930 people have died during the Ebola outbreak, while there have been more than
1,700 suspected and confirmed cases.
During Wednesday’s U.S.-Africa Summit, President Barack Obama stated that the deadly disease
can be controlled.
“What we do know is that the Ebola virus, both currently and in the past, is controllable if you have
a strong public health infrastructure in place,” Obama said.
Obama continued: “The countries that have been affected are the first to admit that what’s
happened here is that their public health systems have been overwhelmed. They weren’t able to
identify and then isolate cases quickly enough. You did not have a strong trust relationship
between some of the communities that were affected and public health workers. As a
consequence, it spread more rapidly than has been typical with the periodic Ebola outbreaks that
have occurred previously.”
Nigerian health authorities acknowledged Tuesday that they did not immediately quarantine a sick
airline passenger who later died of Ebola, announcing that eight health workers who had direct
contact with him were now in isolation with symptoms of the disease.
The outbreak, which emerged in March, spread to Nigeria in late July when Patrick Sawyer, a 40-
year-old American of Liberian descent, flew from Liberia’s capital to the megacity of Lagos. The
announcement that Sawyer was not immediately quarantined underscores concerns that West
Africa is ill-equipped to contain such a disease.
Initially authorities told reporters that the risk of any exposure to others was minimal because
Sawyer was whisked into isolation after arriving at the airport with symptoms of Ebola.
But Lagos state health commissioner Jide Idris said Tuesday that the nature of his disease “was
not known” the first day, and only after further investigation did they suspect Ebola. Sawyer’s sister
had died in Liberia from the disease, which has no proven cure or treatment.
“They went back to the history and they were like ‘Oh, this is Liberia,’ and that’s why he was put
into isolation,” he told reporters. “So even in that window period it was possible that some of these
people got infected.”
A doctor who cared for Sawyer has tested positive for the disease, and seven other health workers
are now showing symptoms and have been placed in isolation. They are among 14 people who
had “serious direct contact” with Sawyer, most of them at the hospital, Idris said. Authorities say
they are also following the conditions of 56 other people who had “primary contact” with Sawyer —
presumably less at risk than those in the first group.
The New York Times reports that the World Health Organization may decide by Friday whether to
declare an international public health emergency.
(TM and © Copyright 2014 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE
Logo TM and Copyright 2014 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press
contributed to this report.)

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