WASHINGTON, October 8 (RIA Novosti) - Additional measures to prevent the Ebola virus from entering the United States will be introduced in five airports of the country: in New York, Washington, Chicago and Atlanta, White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters on Wednesday.
"Additional layer of screening will be put in five airports across the countries. These five airports are the destination of 94 percent of individuals who travel to the US from the tree countries that are currently affected by Ebola right now," Earnest said.
"We continue to have a lot of confidence in screening measures that are already in place. By far the most effective measures that are already in place are… the screening that takes place in these tree countries in West Africa," the spokesman said. "Preventing those individuals, who already exhibiting the symptoms of Ebola from boarding the plane is the most effective measure that would counter and has countered the spread of Ebola."
The Ebola epidemic currently taking place in West Africa broke out in Guinea, and later spread across Liberia, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, and Senegal.
50 people are currently at risk from exposure to Ebola in the United States. On Wednesday morning, Liberian national Thomas Eric Duncan, who was the first person to be diagnosed with Ebola in the United States, reportedly died at a hospital in Dallas, Texas.
According to the European director of the WHO Zsuzsanna Jakab the risk of the spread of Ebola virus in Europe remains low, but imported cases of infection are inevitable.
The Ebola virus is transmitted through direct contact with the bodily fluids of those infected. Though there is no officially approved medication for the disease, several countries, including Russia, the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and Japan are working on developing Ebola vaccines.
