US needs to Rethink Ebola Infection Controls, Says CDC Director

The director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. Thomas Frieden, said Monday that health experts need to rethink how highly infectious diseases like Ebola are dealt with in the United States.

Frieden's comments come in the wake of a Dallas nurse contracting Ebola despite wearing protective gear while caring for Ebola patient Thomas Eric Duncan.

"We have to rethink the way we address Ebola infection control. Even a single infection is unacceptable," Frieden said. "The care of Ebola is hard. We're working to make it safer and easier," he said, reports Reuters.

Freiden apologized for saying that the health worker was responsible for a breach in protocol that exposed her to the virus adding that CDC would take measures to increase  Ebola awareness at hospitals and training the staff.

Some of the changes in procedures have already been implemented, including having staff supervise those putting on and taking off protective gear and retraining staff on how to do it safely.  Freiden said that other steps being considered are wearing new types of protective clothing and spraying down health workers with solutions after they emerge from an Ebola patient's room.

President Obama at a meeting with public health and national security officials, indicated that the Ebola response till date had not been satisfactory. He pointed out that the lessons learned so far should be incorporated in to future response plans and circulated to hospitals and health workers all over the country.

Obama also spoke by phone with French President Francois Hollande and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon about international efforts to contain the disease.

The White house said that Obama and Hollande talked about possible new measures to contain Ebola like passenger screening upon departure and arrival indicating an extensive adoption of screening measures that started in U.S. airports on Saturday, reports The Wall Street Journal.

Meanwhile, a family spokesman has confirmed that the infected nurse was 26-year-old Nina Pham, a Texas Christian University nursing graduate.