WASHINGTON, October 15 (RIA Novosti) - US President Barack Obama has postponed a trip around the country scheduled for Wednesday in order to hold a high-level meeting at the White House over the Ebola outbreak, the White House announced Wednesday.
Obama had planned to visit New Jersey and Connecticut as part of his campaign ahead of the midterm elections on November 4.
"Later this afternoon, POTUS [President of the United States] will convene a meeting at the White House of cabinet agencies coordinating the government's Ebola response," White House aide Dan Pfeiffer wrote in his Twitter Wednesday.
The current Ebola epidemic broke out in Guinea in February and soon spread to the neighboring countries of Liberia, Sierra Leone, Nigeria and Senegal.
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 are currently working on developing Ebola vaccines.
According to the WHO, almost 9,000 people are currently infected, with the disease having killed around 4,500 so far.
The first case of Ebola virus infection inside the United States was confirmed earlier this month. On October 8 a Liberian national Thomas Eric Duncan died of Ebola at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital. Two medical workers have subsequently been infected with the virus.
