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Ebola: US considers airport checks Obama: US planning air passenger Ebola screening
(about 4 hours later)
People arriving in the US from Ebola-affected countries in West Africa could be subject to extra screening at airports, health officials say. The US is planning measures to screen incoming air passengers for Ebola, President Barack Obama has said.
Extra checks at entry is one of the options under consideration as the US tries to limit the spread of its first confirmed case, a Liberian in Dallas. The likelihood of an Ebola outbreak in the US is "extremely low", Mr Obama said, but "we don't have a lot of margin of error".
President Barack Obama is to be briefed on the Ebola crisis later on Monday. More than 3,400 people have died in West Africa in the world's deadliest outbreak of the viral disease.
The outbreak is the world's deadliest, killing more than 3,400 people, mostly in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea. Mr Obama's comments came six days after a Liberian man became the first case of Ebola diagnosed on American soil.
On Monday, there was the first case of contagion outside Africa when a Spanish nurse who treated an Ebola victim in Madrid contracted the virus herself. Thomas Eric Duncan, who contracted the disease in Liberia, is in a critical condition in a hospital isolation unit in Dallas.
Celebrations in West Africa for the Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha have been badly affected, with public places used for prayers deserted. Meanwhile, on Monday a plane carrying American journalist Ashoka Mukpo, who contracted Ebola while working in Liberia, landed in Nebraska, where he will undergo treatment for the deadly disease.
In a news conference, Texas Governor Rick Perry urged the federal government to enhance screening procedures at points of entry - taking information on travel history and taking temperatures. His parents said at a news conference he was looking strong and was "enormously relieved" to be in the US.
One of the US president's advisers on the issue, Dr Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said "discussion is underway right now'' regarding all options to contain the virus. Mr Obama, who spoke after a White House briefing with US health officials, said the US government would push to ensure doctors and other medical professionals responded appropriately if they came in contact with a patient with Ebola-like symptoms.
But on airport checks, he told CNN the question was whether "the extra level of screening is going to be worth the resources you need to put into it". "We're also going to be working on protocols to do additional passenger screening both at the source and here in the United States," he said.
The US president also criticised foreign governments for not acting "as aggressively as they need to" against the outbreak.
"Countries that think that they can sit on the sidelines and just let the United States do it, that will result in a less effective response, a less speedy response, and that means that people die.
"And it also means that the potential spread of the disease beyond these areas in West Africa becomes more imminent," Mr Obama said.
Passengers leaving affected countries already have their temperatures checked, but people do not become infectious until they display symptoms.Passengers leaving affected countries already have their temperatures checked, but people do not become infectious until they display symptoms.
The infected Liberian in Dallas, Texas, Thomas Eric Duncan, was monitored for symptoms when he left Liberia but they did not develop until four days later, when he was in the US. Mr Duncan was screened for symptoms when he left Liberia but appeared healthy. He did not develop symptoms of Ebola until four days later, when he was in the US.
He is now in a critical condition in hospital and receiving an experimental drug treatment.He is now in a critical condition in hospital and receiving an experimental drug treatment.
Ten people who came into direct contact with him are being closely monitored but no-one has yet displayed any Ebola symptoms. Ten people who came into direct contact with him are being closely monitored but none have yet displayed any Ebola symptoms.
When asked about screening, Dr Tom Frieden of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said: "We are looking at all options to protect Americans." Dr Tom Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, has ruled out banning flights to the US from countries suffering the outbreak, arguing the isolation would only worsen the outbreak within Africa and would deny those countries crucial aid.
But he ruled out banning flights to the US because isolating these countries would only increase the outbreak within Africa and would deny them crucial aid, he said. On Monday the first case of contagion outside Africa was confirmed in Spain, where a nurse who treated an Ebola victim in Madrid contracted the virus herself.
On the White House meeting later on Monday, Mr Frieden said: "We're going to be covering many aspects and figure out what we can do" to protect Americans and stop the outbreaks. Dr Frieden has said he did not believe Ebola would spread in the US.
But he repeated that he did not believe it would spread in the US.
"We can stop it in its tracks here, which we are doing," he said."We can stop it in its tracks here, which we are doing," he said.
A national survey by the Pew Research Center, suggests most Americans trust the government to prevent a major outbreak - 20% have a "great deal" of confidence, while another 38% said they have a "fair amount" of confidence. A national survey by the Pew Research Center suggested most Americans trust the government to prevent a major outbreak - 20% have a "great deal" of confidence, while another 38% said they have a "fair amount" of confidence.
A plane carrying American journalist Ashoka Mukpo, who contracted Ebola while working in Liberia, landed on Monday in Nebraska, where he will undergo treatment for the deadly disease.
His parents said at a news conference he was looking strong and was "enormously relieved" to be in the US.
Other US aid workers who have been flown home are now recovering after treatment.
A French nurse who contracted the virus in Liberia has recovered after having experimental medication in Paris.