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CDC: Ebola case numbers likely to increase significantly
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CDC Director Thomas Frieden, MD, MPH, reinforced the need for global cooperation and resources in combating the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, just 1 day after returning from the affected countries.
Despite tremendous efforts, the number of cases of Ebola continues to increase and is increasing rapidly, according to Frieden. In the next few weeks, those numbers are likely to increase further and significantly, he said.
“There is a window of opportunity to clamp the outbreak down, but that window is closing,” Frieden said during a media briefing. “We need action now to scale up response. We know how to stop Ebola, but the challenge is to scale it up to the massive levels needed to stop this outbreak. This is not just a problem for West Africa, it’s a problem for the world, and the world needs to respond.”
Thomas Frieden
This is the first epidemic of Ebola that the world has ever known, Frieden said. The disease is spreading widely among two groups: people caring for other people in hospitals or homes and people involved in unsafe burial practices of people who die of Ebola.
While in West Africa, Frieden said the most upsetting things were what he did not see: enough beds for patients; a lack of data coming from large parts of the countries where Ebola might be spreading; the rapid response needed to stop a single cluster from becoming a large outbreak; and efficient management systems essential for an effective rapid response.
“With everything I’ve seen, it’s likely to get worse,” Frieden said. “For every day that this continues to spread in West Africa, the likelihood of someone getting infected and becoming sick elsewhere increases. We expect that there will be more people from countries like Senegal and Nigeria, who have the illness. As long as Ebola is spreading anywhere, all of us need to be concerned.”
According to Frieden, there is a risk for the stability and security of society as governments are challenged to not only control Ebola, but to keep their own governments running. He also said there is a theoretical risk, but a very low risk, that Ebola could become easier to spread through genetic mutations.