World

CDC: Time Is Running Out To Contain Ebola

Rachel Stoltzfoos Staff Reporter
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The Ebola outbreak is “spiraling out of control,” and time is running out to get the disease in hand, the director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Tuesday.

Dr. Tom Frieden, CDC director, just returned from a trip to Africa, and is calling for a stronger response to the crisis, The Los Angeles Times reports.

“This is not just a problem for West Africa, it’s not just a problem for Africa,” Frieden told reporters Tuesday. “It’s a problem for the world, and the world needs to respond. Like it or not, we live in an interconnected world.”

Ebola has now spread to five African countries, and killed more than 1,552 people, according to World Health Organization numbers cited by the Times. A third American aid worker has contracted the disease.

“There is a window of opportunity to tamp this down, but that window is closing. We need action now,” Frieden said.

New Ebola wards don’t have enough beds for the growing number of patients, Frieden said, and countries need data reporting and rapid response teams to control the disease, especially in West Africa, which has been hit hardest.

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