CDC's Frieden: U.S. not ruling out Ebola travel ban

UPDATE

CONGRESSIONAL HEARING ON EBOLA: STORIES  AND LINK TO TESTIMONY BEFORE A HOUSE  ENERGY AND COMMERCE SUBCOMMITTEE   (scroll down)

By Will Duham

(Reuters) - Congressional lawmakers criticized the government's response to Ebola in the United States on Thursday as some called, at a congressional hearing probing efforts to contain the virus, for a ban on travel from epidemic-stricken West Africa.

Federal Aviation Administration chief Michael Huerta told reporters separately that the United States is assessing whether to issue a travel ban "on a day-to-day basis" but that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) had determined that a ban would not address the challenges posed by Ebola.

...Several schools in Ohio and Texas were closed after concerns that a nurse with Ebola traveled on a plane with people with ties to the schools.

"The administration did not act fast enough in responding in Texas," Democratic Representative Bruce Braley of Iowa told the hearing. "We need to look at all the options available to keep our families safe and move quickly and responsibly to make any necessary changes at airports." Several Republicans said flights from West Africa, where the virus is widespread, should be stopped.

 Frieden argued, as he has before, that closing U.S. borders would not work and would leave the country less able to track people with Ebola entering. Moreover, cutting flights to Africa would hit the U.S. ability to stop the virus at its source, he said.

 Frieden said he has spoken to the White House about the issue of dealing with people traveling with Ebola. Asked if the White House had ruled out a travel ban, the CDC chief did not answer directly, saying, “I can’t speak for the White House.”

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/10/16/us-health-ebola-usa-idUSKCN0I517E20141016

-0-     Earlier Story

USA TODAY
Erin Kelly                               October 16, 2014

WASHINGTON — A top public health official told a House panel that the Obama administration has not ruled out imposing restrictions on travel to and from West Africa to help protect Americans from Ebola.

"We will consider any options to better protect Americans," Thomas Frieden, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said in response to a question from Rep. Tim Murphy, R-Pa., chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations.

                                                        (Photo: Jack Gruber, USA TODAY)

Murphy asked Frieden whether it was the policy of the Obama administration that there would be no travel restrictions. The administration has expressed concern that a travel ban could harm efforts to bring aid to West Africa.

Murphy...voiced concerns with the administration's reluctance to ban flights from African nations most afflicted with the Ebola outbreak. "Screening and self-reporting at airports have been a demonstrated failure," he said.

Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Colo., said the best way to stop Ebola in the USA is to stop it in Africa. "There is no such thing as fortress America when it comes to disease," she said.

In prepared testimony, Frieden tried to tamp down fears about an Ebola outbreak in the USA.

See full story and ink to statements at hearing of the House of Representatives energy and Commerce Subcommitee on Oversights and Investigations

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2014/10/16/ebola-cdc-nih-texas-nurses-infectious/17305483/

http://energycommerce.house.gov/hearing/examining-us-public-health-response-ebola-outbreak