dr. david lakey who is the commissioner of the texas department of state health services. dr. lakey can. >> good afternoon, this is david lakey and the commissioner of health in the state of texas the. i want to thank dr. frieden for the support of the cdc work gin on this effort right now. it is one effort and one team. as i start off, i want to say that my thoughts and prayers and our thoughts and prayers are with the patient right now. obviously, he is critically ill, but also with the family as they are going through the event, and the contacts that have been identify identified that are obviously have concern about what is going on with them right now. and also with the hospital workers caring for the ill patient right now. now, as i said earlier, we are doing our work in partnership with the cdc and our local health department here in the state of texas. a lot of very important hard work is taking place right here in texas, in dallas to ensure that the people of dallas are safe. now, the good news is that we have had no more cases, and no one has reported any symptoms, an

dr. david lakey, who is the commissioner of the texas departments of state health services. dr. lakey. >> good afternoon. this is david lakey, the commissioner of health from the state of texas. i want to thank dr. frieden for the support of the cdc as we are working on this overt right now. it's one effort and one team. as i started off, i again want to say that my thoughts and prayers and our thoughts and prayers are with the patient right now and obviously, he's critically ill but also with the family as they are going through this event and the contacts that have been identified that are obviously have concern about what's going on with them right now. and request the hospital workers that athat are caring for this ilpatient right now. as i said earlier, we are doing our work in pirp with the cdc and our local health department here in the state of texas. a lot of very important hard work is taking place right here in texas and dallas to ensure that the people of dallas are safe the good news is that we have had no more cases and no one has reported any symptoms and we are ha

dr. david lakey following remarks by governor perry talking about the need not to panic. talking about how hard it is for this disease to be transmitted. but also pointing out that some school aged children came into contact with this latest ebola patient. let's unpack all of this. >> what are the main take aways here. and if you want to run through the points he made about what can and cannot be transmitted. >> well, the most important thing is that there have been 21 epidemics of ebola since 1976 and in all 21 of them, the primary area of the explosion of these epidemics has been clinical or medical settings in poor countries where they don't have sterile techniques, they don't have adequate supplies. doctors are not adequately protected and so on. the real take home message. if people are nervous and upset in this country should be we can't let waiting times for people with fevers be 12 hours. you're sitting in the waiting room possibly infected with ebola and possibly infecting others for 12 hours? not a good idea. we can't turn people away for lack of health insuranc

dr. david lakey. dr.akey is in texas with the client team from the county health departments as well as more than 20 staff from cdc help you with all aspects of the response. in dallas, what we have done over the past 48 hours to improve infection control bear is send a team into the field. and we have sent the cdc's most experienced staff, people who work on ebola outbreaks for decades, people have stopped ebola outbreaks in very difficult situations in africa. people who are experts, leading the world in everything from laboratory science to infection control, to hospital administration. and we are working hand in glove, side-by-side, with the folks at the hospital and with the teams from the health department in texas as well as the county leadership in the state. some of the things that the teams are doing to improve safety are looking at every step in the procedures. and those experts and making immediate enhancements in what is being done. i will mention three in particular, although there are three

dr. david lakey, commissioner of the texas department of health followed by dr. clay jenkins, a judge there in dallas, texas. i want to return to dr. amy edwards from university case medical center in cleveland. i think his situation is the most unique and interesting. this is an elected official there in dallas county who literally himself drove the woman he identifies as louise, the partner of mr. duncan who's current in the hospital, and three other male youths that he said were brave souls. he's pretty brave, too. he took a situation, drove them to this house where they're being isolated for 21 days. talk about that and the message that his actions send. how do you interpret that? >> i think that the message that he sends and that he's sending with these actions is that when a patient is asymptomatic, there really is no risk. that's something we've all been trying to reiterate over and over again. but this disease is so scary that understandably a lot of people in the public aren't hearing that message. so he took some very bold action and put his money where

dr. david lakey, the commissioner for the texas department -- >> speaking at the centers for disease control, giving members of the mode ya, just an update sort of on the situation as it stands we bow la. and a couple of things that jumped out at me. we were talking to a nurse yesterday, saying they felt like they weren't prepared if and when the next patient evolves with ebola. they're speaking with hospitals and doctors and staffs to have that readiness effort in full effect. that was encouraging to hear. and also, as we heard the president mention yesterday, the big question is travel, right? how does this affect everyone hopping on planes? preventing the spread of ebola. he said those will be made public over the course of the next couple of days but the health of americans is his top priority, but also described ebola as this virus and combatting it will be a long, hard fight. we will talk to our chief medical correspondent dr. sanjay gupta who was in africa really before the story took front page news, ebola. he'll join me coming up this hour to discuss. >>> also ahead, an american fig

dr. david lakey, who's in texas along with the excellent team from the texas state and the county health departments, as well as more than 20 staff from cdc who are helping with all aspects of the response. in dallas what we've done over it is last 48 hours to improve infection control there is send a team into the field. and we've sent cdc's most experienced staff, people who have worked on ebola outbreaks for decades, people who have stopped ebola outbreaks in very difficult situations in africa, people who are experts, leading the world in everything from laboratory science to infection control to hospital administration, and we're working hand in glove, side by side, with the folks at the hospital and with the teams from the health departments in texas as well as the county leadership and the state. some of the things the teams are doing to improve safety are looking at every step in the procedures. and those experts are making immediate enhancements in what's being done. i'll mention three in particular, although there are three of just a large series. the first and most important i

dr. david lakey, the head of our state health services to come and share with you the efforts that are ongoing as we address this issue. david? >> good morning, everyone. my name is david lakey, commissioner of the texas department state health services. i want to echo several of the comments that were made by the governor. first, our thoughts and prayers are really with the family. they were notified about their loved one having ebola yesterday. obviously it's a scary diagnosis. so our thoughts and prayers are with them right now. and also with the treatment team, those individuals that are caring for the individual right now. since the outbreak of ebola in west africa, texas has been taking steps to make sure that we are prepared for an event like this. a lot of education has taken place. a lot of protocols have been put in place. we've developed the ability to test for this virus since august and to be able to do that in our laboratory. and our preparedness is not just taking place at the state level, preparedness was taking place at the local level in this hospital. they took it really ser

dr. david lakey, commissioner for -- >> you have been watching an update from tom frieden, cdc director.let's head to omaha where ashoka mukpo is being treated. john yang joins us. >> reporter: he's going to be give getting brincidofovir, the same drug in dallas. there was a consultation with both the fda, the cdc and the drug manufacturers to try to decide which of the drugs that have been used with the ebola victims -- people with ebola in the united states that went through and to assess his current condition to see what drug would be the best option, because each drug has a different reaction in different cases. they say they are going to be looking at how he responds to this drug. they're keeping other options in mind. this is, as sarah noted before, an antiviral drug that has other uses but has shown promise in clinical trials and in other trials with ebola. so, they think this is the best option to have right now. i can tell you my colleague, kate snow, spoke doctors who are treating mukpo just a little bit ago. they say he is very tired. he's losing a lot of fluids through vomiti

dr. david lakey, the commissioner of the texas department of state health services. dr. lakey? good afternoon, this is david lakey and i want to thank dr. frieden for the support of the cdc working on this effort right now. as one effort and one team. as i start off, again, i want to say that my thoughts and prayers and our thoughts and prayers are with the patient right now. obviously he's critically ill. but also with the family as they're going through this event. and the contacts that have been identified that are obviously have concern about what's going on with them right now. and with the hospital workers that are caring for this ill patient right now. as i said earlier, we're doing our work in partnership with the cdc, and our local health department here in the state of texas. a lot of very important hard work is taking place right here in texas, in dallas to ensure that the people of dallas are safe. now, the good news is that we have had no more cases. and no one has reported any symptoms, and we're happy about that. and we're reassured -- still very cautious to make

dr. david lakey, the commissioner of the department of state health services. >> good afternoon. i want to thank dr. friedman for the support of the cdc as we are working on this effort right now. as i start off i want to say that my thoughts and prayers are with the patient right now. but also with the family and the contacts that have been identified. indeed the hospital workers are caring for that patient right now. we're doing our work with the partnership with the cdc. a lot of important hard work is taking place right here in texas to ensure that the people of dallas are safe. the good news is we have not had more cases. no one has reported any symptoms. we are still very cautious to make sure we can continue to care for individuals, monitor the situation it needs to be done. our focus is to monitor every contact and to identify -- our priority is to keep tracking those individuals. we want to make sure we arm of closely monitoring them. also, as we identify needs that they may have, we are working to make sure those issues are addressed. making sure food issues are identifi

dr. david lakey who is commissioner of the department of texas health services. >> thank you. obviously it has been a tough several days in dallas, and very tough days for the hospital staff. we knew it was a possibility that one of the health care workers would become infected, but it is still very disappointed. i know the family is possibly listening, and i want us to know that our thoughts and prayers are with them and with the health care worker and with the staff that is working hard on her care right now. there were many components to our response here in dallas. doctor frieden talked about many of those components. the first is this hard work. we have pulled in additional staff from throughout the state complementing the work of the c.d.c. and we are bringing in the resources to do the contact investigation from many different levels of government to identify those individuals and contact them as queckly as -- as quickly as possible. . frieden talked about outbreak control and making sure the practices are even more stringent than what they are now. we are making sure w

dr. david lakey who is commissioner of the texas department of state hept ervices. >> we new it was i possibility that one of the health care work workers become infected but it is still disappoint -- we want the family to know our thoughts and prayers are with them, with the health care worker and with the staff that are working hard on her care right now. there's many components to our response here in dallas. dr. frieden talked about in -- many of those components. our top priority now is the contact investigation. a lot of work has taken place. we pulled in additional staff from throughout the state of texas, complimenting the work of the c.d.c. and the dallas health department staff and so we're bringing in the resources to do the contact investigation from many different levels of government to identify those individuals and contact them as quickly as possible. dr. frieden talked about infectious control, obviously a critical component of this response. looking hard at the infectious control practices and making sure that they're even more stringent than what they are right now and have c.d

dr. lakey. >> thank you. this is david lakey, the commissioner of health in the state of texas.from the cdc that they've given us, not only over the night but the last several weeks as we've been working through this unprecedented event. we've been working through the night trying to gather more information and as we get more information, as appropriate, we will provide that information. as dr. freeden noted, we do have one healthcare worker. the healthcare worker that had extensive contact with our initial patient who did what was appropriate with early symptoms, came in to be checked. we facilitated getting the blood tests done. that test came back at 9:30 last night, and as dr. freeden noted, was positive. the controls were appropriate. the amount of virus in her blood was less than what was there when the first index test came back, but it's a positive test. so our hearts really do go out to this individual and the family. a healthcare worker who is willing to compassionately care for mr. duncan, and then our thoughts and prayers are with them. we have been preparing for eve

dr. lakey for details of those individuals and anything else you'd like to say. david? >> good afternoon, everyone. it's been 14 days since our first case of ebola was diagnosed in the united states. and we've had a very busy time here since the passing of mr. duncan, we have unfortunately, had one additional case. and we know that's one too many, and we knew that's a possibility. and if she's listening, again, we're thinking about you and doing everything we can to make sure you get the treatment that you need. we have a force here on the ground in texas to make sure this is contained. and we have state leadership here on the ground in dallas teams from the cdc, the hospital and local partners all working together to confront this. our top priority is their safety and the health of everyone in texas. i had the opportunity yesterday to go to the hospital and talk in detail with the team there on the ground at presbyterian hospital. that team consists of the cdc, individuals from the state, state epidemiologists from the local health department. we're fortunate to have t

dr. lakey for details of those individuals and anything else you would like to say. david?> thank you, dr. frieden. it's been 14 days since our first case of ebola diagnosed in the united states and we've had a very busy time here. since the passing of mr. duncan, we have unfortunately had one additional case. and we know that's one too many areas and we knew that that was a possibility. if she's listening, again we are thinking about you are doing everything we can to make sure they get the treatment that you need. we had a unit on the ground to make sure that this is contained in texas. we have state leadership on the ground here in dallas on a teams from the cdc and the hospital nonlocal partners all working together to confront this. health care workers are understandably worried and our top priority is their safety and health of everyone in texas. i had the opportunity yesterday to go to the hospital and talk in detail with a team that is there on the ground at the presbyterian hospital and that consist of the cdc individuals from the state epidemiologist from the loca