Press conference
Just going over what happened in Nigeria.
Even though patient was not in isolation, they managed to control outbreak with good procedures and limited it t 19.
Q: How big will CDC team be?
A: Epidemiologists, hospital infection control - whatever is required. Local state health departments are always in charge.
Q: Is this an American or a visitor. Has contract tracing begun?
A: He was in this country to visit family - further details in a few days. Contract tracing begun today.
Q: What steps can you take to reassure people who are worried about having passed through the same airport or been on the same flight.
A: People welcome to call for advice. Important that people understand about Ebola. Easy to kill by washing hands and to stop spread by using gloves etc. People are only infective when they become sick. Even when they have a fever, in some cases the tests cannot detect Ebola yet because there is so little virus.
Q:Is this the first ever case diagnosed in the USA? How old id the patient?
A: First patient diagnosed outside of Africa with Ebola. There have been cases with a different haemorrhagic fever (Marburg). Even though they underwent surgery before diagnosis, they did not pass it on.
Q: How does the contact tracing process work?
A Core PH process, systematic. Interview patient, all family members, identify all movements between symptoms and admission. Trace movements and potential contacts. Individuals contacted in order of risk. Always err on the side of over identification of possible contacts. Observed and monitored for 21 days.