CDC Director: Ebola Threatens to Become the New AIDS

In Oklahoma City, a sick man who claimed his landlord had been to West Africa was rushed to the isolation unit at a hospital. His landlord was neither sick nor had been to West Africa. The man was promptly taken out of isolation.It is the new reality in America as the government prepares to ramp up screenings at five U.S. airports, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director warns that Ebola threatens to become the new AIDS."I will say that in the 30 years that I have been working in public health the only thing like this has been AIDS and we have to work now so that this is not the world's next AIDS," said Dr. Tom Friend, the CDC's director.The response to the first real case of Ebola, Thomas Eric Duncan, was marked by stumbles. He was sent home after his first hospital visit despite having a temperature of 103. His family was left living among hazardous waste for nearly a week.At a hearing at the Dallas-Ft. Worth Airport, House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mike McCaul said the nation can't afford any more dropped balls."We must learn from these missteps, and ensure the proper procedures are established and followed should another case arise in the United States," said McCaul.So far, almost remarkably, none of Duncan's 48 contacts have fallen ill. A sheriff's deputy who had been in Duncan's apartment with no protective gear was released from the hospital last night. His illness was found not to be Ebola.The anxiety over the virus isn't limited to the United States. In Macedonia, a hotel has been sealed off after a British visitor mysteriously died hours after arriving.In Spain, seven people, including a hairdresser, are now in isolation. They were in contact with nurse Theresa Romero who is desperately ill after she caught Ebola from a patient being treated in Madrid.In West Africa, the World Health Organization reported the death toll has passed 4,000, though the CDC believes the actual number is far higher. Dr. Kent Brantly, the first American patient with Ebola told an audience at Abilene Christian University today that the virus is devastating entire nations."You have seen the news reports and I assure you the reality on the ground in West Africa is much worse than the worst report you've seen," said Brantly.Customs and border protection begins its enhanced screening protocols for travelers from West Africa tomorrow with JFK Airport in New York. Newark, Chicago-O'Hare, Dulles and Atlanta airports will follow soon after that.