Pennsylvania's Top Doctor Says Little To Fear Here From Ebola
By Kim Glovas
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- As the ebola virus epidemic in West Africa continues to claim victims, there are lingering questions about whether we'll see an outbreak in the United States.
On Monday, Pennsylvania's physician general sought to calm fears.
"The public should be assured that the risk of a significant Ebola hemorrhagic fever outbreak in the United States is extremely low, and close to nonexistent," said Dr. Carrie DeLone.
The World Health Organization said last week that the disease is moving faster in West Africa than efforts to curb it.
Dr. DeLone says U.S. facilities have far greater capabilities to contain the disease than most African facilities. She says bringing patients home to the U.S. will create no threat, but will allow the medical community to monitor the patients better and study the progression of the disease more vigorously.
DeLone says the key factor in determining the diagnosis is whether someone has traveled recently in African countries, because Ebola symptoms at first resemble just a regular flu or cold.