It was only a matter of time before a patient in the U.S. was going to be diagnosed with the ebola virus.
While the epidemic has been hugely centered in West African countries like Liberia, eventually an infected person was going to get onto a plane before showing symptoms only to become sick once on U.S. soil. U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Tom Frieden confirmed yesterday that a man traveling from Liberia to Dallas, Texas, was diagnosed with the illness.
Frieden has confirmed that the unidentified man left Liberia Sept. 19 and became ill a few days later while visiting relatives. It is not clear how the man became infected, and he has been hospitalized at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in critical condition since Sunday.
While there has been an understandable sense of concern, Frieden believes a U.S. outbreak can be contained if not prevented, and he has also mentioned that there are facilities equipped to handle such a serious illness, unlike the treatment received in West Africa.
Still, those reassurances have done little to calm the large Liberian community in northern Texas.
Stanley Gaye, president of the Liberian Community Association of Dallas-Fort Worth, said his community numbers about 10,000 people. Since Liberian culture is rooted in big family get-togethers, he is all but begging someone to release the patient's name so his community can take proper precautions to prevent unknowingly spreading the ebola virus.
Gaye told the Associated Press, "We've been telling people to try to stay away from social gatherings. We need to know who it is so that they [family members] can all go get tested. If they are aware, they should let us know."
Do you think the CDC has things as under control as it wants the general public to believe? Its job is to relay necessary information while trying to maintain a sense of calm, but do you think Americans are being properly protected in this situation? Comment below.
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