US: Hospitals should be prepared to detect cases of Ebola

AP

The United States government has asked all hospitals in the country “to be prepared for Ebola.”

Each hospital should be able to diagnose Ebola and isolate any suspected case, said the director of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Tom Frieden.

“We have to rethink how we address infection control, because even a single infection is unacceptable,” said Frieden

The agency is improving the protection of workers since a hospital nurse who took care of a patient with Ebola in Dallas became the first infected with the virus in the United States.

“We must consider the possibility that there could be additional cases, especially among health care workers who cared for the patient” (Liberian Eric Duncan Thomas, who died of the disease), Frieden said.

The director added that the CDC is emphasizing training on Ebola and support to hospitals and health care workers.