http://washingtonexaminer.com/cdc-director-u.s.-needs-to-rethink-ebola/article/2554721CDC director: U.S. needs to 'rethink' Ebola
By Brian Hughes | October 13, 2014 | 12:44 pm
The director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention struck a conciliatory tone on Monday, saying that health officials needed to “rethink” how to stop the spread of Ebola and that he did not blame the nurse who contracted the deadly virus in Dallas.
“We have to rethink the way we address Ebola infection control because even a single infection is unacceptable,” CDC Director Tom Frieden told reporters, detailing the response effort after an unidentified nurse was diagnosed with Ebola over the weekend.
"It doesn't change the fact that we know how Ebola spreads," Frieden said of the first known transmission in the United States. "It does change, substantially, how we approach it."
The nurse who contracted the disease tested positive for Ebola after attempting to treat Thomas Eric Duncan, the Liberian national who died from the virus after traveling to the United States.
Frieden received criticism on Sunday when he attributed the spread of the virus to a “breach of protocol,” with some accusing him of scapegoating the nurse on the frontlines of combating the disease.
"I’m sorry if that was the impression given,” Frieden said in response to the backlash.
He did not identify any specific breach in protocol by the nurse, saying they would continue to investigate the handling of Duncan's treatment.
As for new exposure to the Ebola virus, the CDC director acknowledged that additional cases could emerge.
However, he said that the nurse who came down with Ebola had direct contact with just one person at the onset of her symptoms. Health officials are now monitoring that individual.
Frieden’s announcement came as the government started implementing heightened screening measures at five major airports nationwide. Officials at those locations will take the temperatures of all passengers entering the country from Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea.
And the CDC director defended the decision not to put a travel ban in place for passengers from West Africa.
“It’s going to become much harder to stop the outbreak at the source,” he said of the fallout from such a travel ban.
