 |
| Texas Gov. Rick Perry addresses the media about the first Ebola case diagnosed in the U.S. in Dallas, Texas, on Oct. 1. Richard Rodriguez/European Pressphoto Agency |
AUSTIN, Texas—Gov. Rick Perry on Monday called on federal officials to boost Ebola screening at all U.S. points of entry, as he announced the creation of a task force to assess and enhance the state’s ability to respond to pandemic diseases.
Speaking at the Texas capitol building, the Republican governor and potential 2016 presidential candidate said Texas had “learned a lot about the unique challenges of situations like this, and it’s important that we continue to adapt our responses.”
Mr. Perry named Dr. Brett Giroir, the chief executive of the Texas A&M Health Science Center, to head the Texas task force. It will assess state hospitals’ preparedness for treating patients exposed to the Ebola virus and offer recommendations for monitoring people who may have come into contact with someone exhibiting symptoms of Ebola.
He also recommended that federal customs and border patrol agents immediately begin enhanced screening at all points of entry, including possibly taking the temperature of people entering the country, and called for additional airport screening of travelers arriving from countries plagued by the Ebola virus.
“Washington needs to take immediate steps to minimize the dangers of Ebola and infectious diseases,” he said.
Mr. Perry’s remarks come amid criticism about a botched response to the first diagnosed case of Ebola in the U.S. in Dallas last Tuesday. A Dallas hospital initially sent Thomas Eric Duncan, who recently had flown from Liberia, home with antibiotics after he showed up at the hospital and complained he was feeling ill. He was admitted three days later, on Sept. 28, when he returned in an ambulance after his symptoms had worsened He was formally diagnosed with Ebola two days later.
“There were mistakes made, but the process is working,” Mr. Perry said. “We don’t have an outbreak.”
Top U.S. officials have also voiced confidence that the U.S. won’t suffer a widespread Ebola outbreak as a result of the Dallas case.
Health officials are monitoring a group of about 48 people who may have been exposed to the Ebola virus through contact with Mr. Duncan, the first patient to be diagnosed with the virus in the U.S., or people who came into contact with him.
The vast majority of those being monitored aren’t under quarantine orders, meaning that they are free to move about as long as they submit to health checkups daily for 21 days, the maximum incubation period for Ebola.
Only four of the 48— Louise Troh, the woman Mr. Duncan was staying with in Dallas, and three others at her apartment—are under quarantine, officials have said, after they failed to comply with a request to stay put.
Like on Facebook
Follow on Twitter
Add on Google+
No comments:
Post a Comment