Obama Says Ebola Virus Can Spread Globally If Not Supressed

The deadly Ebola virus will spread globally, if the current outbreak in Western Africa is not defeated, US President Barack Obama told reporters.

“I am absolutely confident that we can prevent a serious outbreak of the disease here in the United States, but it becomes more difficult to do so if this epidemic of Ebola rages out of control in West Africa. If it does, then it will spread globally in an age of frequent travel and the kind of constant interactions that people have across borders,” Obama said following the meeting on the US government’s response to Ebola threat.

The Ebola epidemic began in February in southern Guinea and has since spread to Liberia, Sierra Leone, Nigeria and Senegal. In the United States, two healthcare workers from the Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital have tested positive for Ebola after caring for the virus' victim, Liberian national Thomas Eric Duncan, who died on October 8. The Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) said they are monitoring 11 confirmed and 114 possible contacts for symptoms of the disease.

An official medication for Ebola has yet to be approved, but several countries are trying to develop vaccine. The World Health Organization estimates that the Ebola death toll exceeds 4,400. (Cihan/Ria Novsoti)