Well, obviously the news has been dominated by the diagnosis of a second health care worker in Dallas with Ebola. And in light of this second case, I thought it was very important for me to bring together our team, including our CDC Director, Tom Frieden, to hear directly from them in terms of how we are ramping up our efforts here. Obviously, initially, we want to express concern for the two health workers who have been affected. Our nurses and our health care workers are absolutely vital to the health and wellbeing of our families. They sacrifice for us all the time, not just in this case but in the case of other illnesses that affect us. They are selfless, they work hard, they're often underpaid. And so our thoughts and prayers are with them, and we have to make sure that we are doing everything we can to take care of them, even as they take care of us. As a consequence, what we've been doing here today is reviewing exactly what we know about what's happened in Dallas and how we're going to make sure that something like this is not repeated and that we are monitoring, supervising, overseeing in a much more aggressive way exactly what has taken place in Dallas initially and making sure that the lessons learned are then transmitted to hospitals and clinics all across the country. First of all, what I've directed the CDC to do is that as soon as somebody is diagnosed with Ebola, we want a rapid response team, a SWAT team, essentially, from the CDC to be on the ground as quickly as possible -- hopefully within 24 hours -- so that they are taking the local hospital step by step through exactly what needs to be done and making sure that all the protocols are properly observed; that the use of protective equipment is done effectively; that disposal of that protective equipment is done properly. The key thing to understand about this disease is that these protocols work. We know that because they've been used for decades now in Ebola cases around the world, including the cases that were treated in Emory and in Nebraska. So if they're done properly, they work. But we have to make sure that, understandably, certain local hospitals that may not have that experience are walked through that process as carefully as possible and we're going to make sure that this rapid response team can do that. In addition, we are reviewing every step of what's happened since Mr. Duncan was initially brought in to the hospital in Dallas so that we understand exactly where some of the problems may have occurred, and doing a thorough canvass and inventory of all the workers who had contact with Mr. Duncan, including those who engaged in some of the testing that took place. We are now communicating all these various lessons to hospitals, clinics, first-responders around the country. And obviously given all the attention that this has received, we're going to make sure that that provision of information is constant, ongoing, and being updated on a real-time basis. In addition, we are working very carefully with the Mayor of Dallas, the Governor of Texas and others to make sure that in the event any other cases arise from these health workers, that they are properly cared for in a way that is consistent with public safety. I know that people are concerned about the fact that the second health care worker had traveled. Here's what we know about Ebola: That it is not like the flu. It is not airborne. The only way that a person can contract Ebola is by coming into direct contact with the bodily fluids of somebody who is showing symptoms. In other words, if they don't have symptoms, they're not contagious. What we are able to do, however, is to do what's called contact tracing, so that anybody who may have had contact with someone -- even if it was incidental contact, even if they weren't showing symptoms -- being able to identify who those individuals are and make sure that they are then being monitored in a way that allows us to make certain that the disease does not spread further. And that's currently taking place in a very aggressive process conducted by the CDC, HHS, and the rest of our teams. I want to use myself as an example just so that people have a sense of the science here. I shook hands with, hugged, and kissed not the doctors, but a couple of the nurses at Emory because of the valiant work that they did in treating one of the patients. They followed the protocols, they knew what they were doing, and I felt perfectly safe doing so. And so this is not a situation in which, like a flu, the risks of a rapid spread of the disease are imminent. If we do these protocols properly, if we follow the steps, if we get the information out, then the likelihood of widespread Ebola outbreaks in this country are very, very low.

• published: 16 Oct 2014
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