Poll: 6 in 10 Americans Believe US Ebola Outbreak 'Likely'

Poll: 6 in 10 Americans Believe US Ebola Outbreak 'Likely'

Americans are increasingly concerned about a potential Ebola outbreak on U.S. soil after Liberian immigrant Thomas Eric Duncan was diagnosed with the disease in the United States.

A new Reason-Rupe poll, taken October 1-6, found that 62 percent of Americans believe “an Ebola outbreak in a U.S. city is likely, while 36 percent say an outbreak is not likely.” In August, “40 percent of Americans thought an Ebola outbreak in the United States was likely.” Twenty-three percent believe “an Ebola outbreak in a US city is ‘very likely’ and 39 percent say it is ‘somewhat likely,'” according the poll, which was administered by Princeton Survey Research Associates and has a margin of error of +/- 3.8 percentage points.

Duncan, the first person diagnosed with Ebola on American soil, died on Wednesday. Nearly 150 passengers from West African nations arrive in the U.S. daily, and the federal government decided to ramp up screening at five airports (JFK, Dulles, Newark, O’Hare, Hartsfield) this week.  

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