WASHINGTON, D.C. — Ebola can be stopped, but the fight will not be easy, the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Tom Frieden testified before a House panel Thursday.
“We can stop Ebola. We know how to do it. It will be a long and hard fight,” Frieden said.
“We have to stop it at the source in Africa,” he continued, adding that the disease must be stopped by “tried and true means.”
Frieden continued that if the disease is confronted with strategies that work it can be stopped but that it “won’t be quick and it won’t be easy” due to the need to pay attention to detail.
According to Frieden the current outbreak is “unprecedented” because it is the largest to date, multinational, the first outbreak in West Africa, proving harder to control than past outbreaks, and it is the first time the United States has dealt with the disease in country.
He also noted that the CDC is at its highest level of response and will increase personnel to take on the outbreak. He explained that while there is no sure cure to date, there are ways to cope with the disease.
“What is so concerning about Ebola is the stakes are so high,” Frieden added, explaining that while the disease is not airborne, it is dangerous.
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