WASHINGTON, October 22 (RIA Novosti) – US citizens' confidence in the government's ability to handle the Ebola situation has dropped by almost 10 percent in two weeks, a recent Gallup poll revealed.
Only 52 percent of Americans are now "very or somewhat confident in the government's ability to handle Ebola," compared to 60 percent on October 12 and 61 percent on October 5, the poll released Tuesday said.
At the same time, 25 percent of Americans believe that it is "very or somewhat likely" that they or someone in their family will contract Ebola virus, compared to 22 percent on October 5.
Results for this Gallup poll are based on telephone interviews of some 1,000 US adult citizens taken on October 18-19.
In the United States there have been three confirmed cases of Ebola from the Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital – Eric Duncan died on October 8, and two health care workers who cared for him, Nina Pham and Amber Vinson, are currently undergoing treatment.
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 most recent estimates by the World Health Organization, 4,555 people have died from the disease, with 9,216 confirmed, probable and suspected Ebola cases.
