Thomas R. Frieden, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and administrator of the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, speaking on 7/31/2014:
"It is not a potential of Ebola spreading widely in the U.S. That is not in the cards.""We have quarantine stations at all the major ports of entry. People cannot transmit Ebola to others unless they are sick, and Ebola makes you so sick that it's pretty obvious pretty quickly. A traveler will be flagged by the flight crew and if someone gets sick after arrival in the U.S. they will almost certainly seek medical care."
"Ebola poses little risk to the U.S. general population."
Frieden, on 9/30/2014:
"And I would comment, this is a tried and true protocol, this is what we do in public health and this is what we do in this country for a variety of infectious diseases and what we do at CDC globally in Ebola cases.""Strong health care infection control that stops the spread of Ebola and strong core public health functions that trace contacts, track contacts, isolate them if they have any symptoms and stop the chain of transmission. We're stopping this in its tracks. Thank you very much".
Frieden, 10/7/2014:
"It's a virus that doesn't spread through the air, and that we do know how to control. We do know how to stop it. By isolating patients, doing contact tracing, and breaking the chains of transmission. Now, I can say one week in that there are real signs of progress. Not only in Dallas, but also around the world. I'll go through a few of them. In Dallas, there are 10 definite and 38 possible contacts being monitored. Each and every one of them is having their temperature monitored. As of today, none of them are sick and none of them have a fever. We'll continue to watch that very closely in the coming days and Dr. Lakey, Judge Shaken and their teams at the state and local level in Dallas are doing a terrific job dealing with what is really an unprecedented situation."
Frieden on 10/12/2014:
"At some point, there was a breach in protocol, and that breach in protocol resulted in this infection. The (Ebola treatment) protocols work. ... But we know that even a single lapse or breach can result in infection."CDC circular to hospitals on 7/30/2014, Infection Prevention and Control Recommendations for Hospitalized Patients with Known or Suspected Ebola Virus Disease in U.S. Hospitals.
"In this guidance healthcare personnel (HCP) refers all persons, paid and unpaid, working in healthcare settings who have the potential for exposure to patients and/or to infectious materials, including body substances, contaminated medical supplies and equipment, contaminated environmental surfaces, or aerosols generated during certain medical procedures (emphasis added). HCP include, but are not limited to, physicians, nurses, nursing assistants, therapists, technicians, emergency medical service personnel, dental personnel, pharmacists, laboratory personnel, autopsy personnel, students and trainees, contractual personnel, home healthcare personnel, and persons not directly involved in patient care (e.g., clerical, dietary, house-keeping, laundry, security, maintenance, billing, chaplains, and volunteers) but potentially exposed to infectious agents that can be transmitted to and from HCP and patients."
Houston Chronicle, 10/13/2014, in reference to Thomas Eric Duncan's second show-up at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital, after the hospital had sent blood to the lab to test for Ebola but before results came back:
" ...records obtained by The Associated Press have indicated that staff did not don the hazmat suits until two days after Duncan arrived."
