Obama in Face of Ebola: Names Disease’s ’Czar’, What’s Next?
Local Editor
US President Barack Obama appointed a former White House adviser as Ebola "czar" on Friday and named officials to bolster the response to the disease in Texas, the center of US Ebola cases, as the death toll in three West African nations topped 4,500.
Obama appointed Ron Klain as Ebola "czar"
The White House appointments came as Obama faced criticism from some lawmakers over his administration's efforts to contain the hemorrhagic virus and as widening Ebola fears kept a US cruise ship out of a Mexican port.
Obama appointed Ron Klain, a lawyer who had served as chief of staff to Vice Presidents Joe Biden and Al Gore, to oversee the US Ebola response.
The White House also said it would send senior personnel to Dallas to help federal, state and local officials there trying to identify and monitor people who came in contact with three people who caught the disease.
The three include Thomas Eric Duncan, the first person diagnosed with the disease in the United States, and two nurses who were on the team of health workers caring for Duncan until his death last week.
Obama met with health and national security aides and "underscored that the domestic response to Ebola cases must be seamless at all levels," the White House said in a statement.
It was the third consecutive day that Obama had convened officials to discuss what has become a major political issue for his Democratic administration ahead of mid-term elections next month.
The countries worst hit by Ebola have been Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, where the disease has killed 4,546 since the outbreak started in March, an updated tally from the World Health Organization shows.
Illustrating the public worry in the United States, the Pentagon confirmed an Ebola scare when a woman who recently traveled to Africa vomited after getting off a bus headed to a Marine Corps ceremony.
Klain was appointed the day after US lawmakers, in a congressional hearing, criticized the administration's handling of Ebola. Some called for a ban on travel from West Africa, as other politicians have in recent weeks.
The White House said on Friday that Obama was willing to "keep an open mind" about a travel ban, but it was not being considered.
In a sign the disease can be beaten, the World Health Organization said the West African country of Senegal was now Ebola-free, although still vulnerable.
Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team
Comments
- Related News
