Ebola virus, which is killing hundreds of West African people, has set alarm bells ringing in the USA. People have to understand that any infected person can simply take a plane and land up in America while the person is a carrier of the virus, said Michael Osterholm who is the director of Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota.
The recent outbreak has assumed deadly proportions. The death toll has reached 670 while the number of infections stands at over 1,200. The most infected places according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention are Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea. The World Health Organization has said that 90% of these Ebola infections are turning fatal. The incubation time for the virus can range from days to around three weeks.
CDC has also told health experts to look out for Ebola symptoms. They are working jointly with some Africa countries and helping them to contain the virus. The deputy director o of CDC’s national center for emerging and zoonotic infectious diseases Stephan Monroe said that “No Ebola cases have been reported in the United States and the likelihood of this outbreak spreading outside of West Africa is very low,” “While it’s possible that someone could become infected with Ebola in Africa” “it’s very unlikely that they would spread it to other passengers.”
The reason for this confidence is that Ebola does not spread from coughing and sneezing. Rather saliva, blood, stool and sweat are major carriers, and plane passengers do not come into such close contact with others normally.
