CDC insists Ebola under control even as stricken man’s relatives quarantined, home awaits scrubdown
Federal health officials rushed Friday to assure a frightened public that Ebola does not pose a serious threat in the U.S., even as the first — and thus far only — diagnosis on American soil exposed potential flaws in border screening, treatment and disposal of contaminated items.
As Ebola patient Thomas Eric Duncan, who showed symptoms of the often-fatal disease shortly after arriving from Liberia, was being treated in isolation at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital, relatives in Dallas resisted a quarantine amid reports that cleanup specialists were balking at disinfecting their home.
Still, Dr. Thomas Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), insists he’s confident Ebola can be contained in the U.S., unlike in Africa where it has killed more than 3,300 since the current outbreak began late last year.