US Warns Ebola Could Become Next AIDS

Local Editor

A top US health official urged swift action on Thursday to prevent the deadly Ebola virus from becoming the next AIDS epidemic, as a Spanish nurse was at "serious risk" of dying from the virus.

CDC Director Tom Frieden told the heads of the United Nations, World Bank and International Monetary Fund gathered in Washington that, "We have to work now so that it [Ebola] is not the world's next AIDS."

"I would say that in the 30 years I've been working in public health, the only thing like this has been AIDS," he added, warning of a "long fight" ahead.

Meanwhile, Teresa Romero, 44, is "very ill and her life is at serious risk as a consequence of the virus," Madrid's regional president Ignacio Gonzalez told parliament. She is the first person known to have been infected with Ebola outside Africa.

The spread of Ebola has killed nearly 3,900 people in West Africa since the beginning of the year [2014].

Ebola's spillover into the United States and Europe has raised fears of a wider outbreak, and led the United States, Canada and Britain to start tougher airport screening of passengers arriving from West Africa.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team