Arizona Congressman Ron Barber is pressing federal officials for more information on Ebola and the efforts to keep Americans safe in a letter he wrote to Secretary of State John Kerry; Dr. Thomas Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; and Dr. Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health.
Barber told Kerry that because Ebola has a lengthy incubation period and there is no vaccine or cure, “it would make sense to increase our screenings and vigilance in West Africa where the outbreak is currently found.”
Barber asked what is being done to identify people with Ebola before they begin traveling to the United States, whether new visas requiring health screenings should be required, whether travelers are being asked about possible Ebola infections in pre-travel interviews and what is being done to protect American embassy employees in countries with Ebola outbreaks.
“It is imperative that we do all we can to help those afflicted in Africa, and we must also do all we can to protect the American public,” Barber told Kerry.
In his letter to health officials Drs. Frieden and Collins, Barber asked for a report on “research that is currently being conducted to develop new Ebola detection methods, including those that might be used on pre-symptomatic patients.”
Barber’s letters follow up on questions he asked last week when he attended a field hearing of the House Committee on Homeland Security held at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport.
Barber also asked a top official from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention if there is a possibility of developing a test to detect Ebola in an individual at an earlier stage of infection.