the ebola outbreak. members heard testimony from cdc frieden and national institute of allergy and infectious diseases fouchi., anthony three hours. >> good afternoon. i convene this hearing of the oversightee of investigation. >> chairman, i can't see the witness. sure will need to make that the media is -- when the we arees are speaking, clear of the center section. today, the world is fighting the ebola epidemic in history. cdc and our public health system of a fire.middle job 1 is to put that out completely. we will not stop until we do. we must be clear-eyed and to protect purpose public health and to ensure not one additional case is contracted here in the united states. we in congress stand ready to serve as a strong and solid this crisis,lving because there is no greater responsibility for the u.s. government than to protect and defend the safety of the american people. in this battle couldn't be any higher. cases inr of ebola west africa is doubling about every three weeks. the math still favors

duncan, had ebola.but that is many.o and we are open to ide for what we can americansp as safe as possible as long as the outbreak is continuing. we also have established emergency response team from cdc that will go within hours to any hospital that has an ebola case to help them provide affective care safely. to protect americans. we're always open to new ideas. because the bottom line is using the most accurate data and information to inform our actions and protect health. thank you. >> thank you, dr. frieden. i recognize dr. fauci for five minute summary. >> thank you, chairman murphy. ranking members degette and ranking member upton and ranking member waxman. you heard ab the health aspectses of ebola virus disease from dr. frieden. i appreciate the opportunity to speak to you this morning on the role of national institute of allergy and infectious disease in research addressing ebola virus disease. of note our activities started with the tragic events of 9/11, of 9/11, 2001, which were followed cl

the federal response to ebola. president obama is offering federal support is new york as it responds to its first ebola case. he spoke thursday night to mayor bill de blasio. [inaudible conversations] >> ladies and gentlemen, before i gavel this to a starlet, i think you already -- to a start, i think you already heard, please put your cell phones either off or preferably on airplane mode. you're certainly welcome to take pictures as long as you don't stand up or in any other way block other people. we have a large panel today, members have flown in from all over the country to hear these people and to ask questions, so the only thing i ask is that, please, give them all the opportunity to do that. .. the taxpayers want to be safe. the taxpayers want to know that our government is prepared. in this case, we leave no stone unturned in an shoring and shoring today that america is planning for tomorrow. beginning in march of 2014 in the west african nation the world first learned about yet another new outbreak of the

ebola free. elizabeth, let's talk about new york state here. new york state has been preparing for ebola now for weeks. they had training sessions at the javits center here, they've been doing run throughs in emergency rooms for some time. they seem determined not to make the same mistake that were made in dallas. >> right. in dallas they were just caught totally unaware. they hadn't had ebola training, this gentleman just walked in off the street. they didn't know what to do. that's very different from bellevue. at bellevue they've been training for this. they've been training for protective gear, training for all the little things, what do you do with the dirty sheets and towels, all of that. that is so important. a few weeks ago tom freeden, fre director of the cdc said "any hospital can handle an ebola patient." he doesn't say that anymore. i think he recognized that some hospitals are better at it than others and this hospital would be in the category of being better at it. >> in this pro st

and ebola has even broken into the music industry. ♪ is it ebola is it ebola ♪ >> reporter: this artistg the words to lola. with ebola everybody wants to know if they have it. if so, how to cure it? >> everyone knows ebola kills. what exactly does it do? >> reporter: the new york giants playing the dallas cowboys on sunday got a class on ebola 101. although some have suggested the giants can't catch anything. let alone ebola. but there is a lot of information you can't trust. any time people are scared of something it often helps to talk about it in some way. >> reporter: case in point. watch this spoof from a recent "saturday night live." >> i'm sticking with you no matter what kind of cancer you have. >> i don't have cancer. i have ebola. >> oh. >> reporter: or south park comparing the ebola scare to the fear of gluten. >> we have word of a possible gluten exposure in your home. >> after nina pham was diagnosed with ebola, her quarantined dog has become a household name. bentley has a health care provider suited up from head to toe. those protective suits aren't just for health care w

is it ebola waste as contagious as a patient with ebola? >> ebola waste, waste from ebola patients, and be readily decontaminated. the virus itself is not particularly hardy. is killed by bleach, by a variety of chemicals. ebola waste more dangerous than other medical waste? >> the severity of the infection is higher, so you want to be certain when you're getting rid of it -- >> is the cdc assessing the capabilities of hospitals to manage the waste of ebola patients, and does the cdc allow off-site disposal of ebola medical waste? >> my understanding is the latter question, yes, we work closely with the department of transportation as well as the commercial waste management companies to ensure that capability. inso we have an added danger having to truck this waste and move it to facilities. are the employees at the processing centers been trained and how to dispose of ebola waste? >> we have detailed guidelines for the disposal of medical waste from the care of ebola patients. >> all right. you and i talked about my troops from fort campbe

that's how you stop ebola. can go through the details when you wish, and we are working to ensure there's effective infection control. i have the details of that. in sum, cdc works 24/7 to protect americans. there's no shortcuts. everyone has to do their part. there are more than 5,000 hospitals in the country, more than 2500 health departments at the local level and we're there to support, world class expertise, and we're there to respond to threats to help protect americans and always open to new ideas, open to data because our bottom line is using the most accurate data information, inform our actions, and protect health, thank you. >> thank you. now for a five minute summary of your statement. >> thank you. you just heard about the public health aspects of ebola disease. i appreciate the opportunity to speak with you this morning for a few minutes on the infectious diseases. of note is that our activities actually started with the tragic events of 9/11. if i could -- of 9/11/2001, followed closely by the an

ebola? is it safe to be -- is it better to be safe than sorry? tonight we're going to separate ebola fact from fiction. but i want to begin with our breaking news. fears of another ebola case in maryland. cnn's dr. sanjay gupta is in atlanta. miguel marquez is in bellevue hospital, at bellevue hospital right here in new york, where a 5-year-old tested negative for ebola today. sanjay, let's begin with you. what can you tell us about this new story coming out of maryland tonight? >> well, it's sort of an ongoing situation, don. the university of maryland medical center has accepted a patient at the direction of the department of public health over there for assessment. so this sounds like someone obviously they're concerned about. we don't know why, what has sort of sparked those concerns necessarily. we also don't know if they have ebola. they're going to be assessed and eventually see if they have symptoms and be tested is my guess. but we'll probably have more information over the next cou

is ebola as contagious as a patient with ebola? >> ebola waste 0 waste from ebola patients can be decontaminated. of virus itself is not particularly hardy. variety of chemicals. >> is it more dangerous than other medical waste? >> the severity of ebola infection is higher. when you are getting rid of it. >> the capabilities of hospitals that manner and mental -- manage medical waste and does the cdc ala off site disposal of ebola. >> we work with the department of transportation, and commercial waste management companies to ensure that capability. >> we have an added danger and had to truck this waste. employees of processing centers being trained and have to dispose of ebola waste. >> we have detailed guidelines for the disposal of medical waste for care of ebola patients. >> you and i talked about my troops from fort campbell that are going to be over there and i have some questions from my constituents. are american troops going to come in contact with any ebola patients or those exposed to ebola or included or any of these con

do any know anybody who's had ebola? have they been exposed to ebola?e they had any sickness at all over the course of the last week or so. then, if they're clear, if they don't have any symptoms, they'll be allowed to move on. they'll be told, listen, if you develop any systmptom, contact e cdc immediately. if anybody is showing symptoms, or become sick in flight, or whatever, they will be pulled over by the personnel and quarantined. at that point, the state health department brought in. the hope is they can keep anybody coming from west africa and who might have an ebola contagion, keep them from coming to the u.s. but as you know, this is fraught with political upheaval right now. people calling for, on both the right and the left, calling for a travel ban on people coming from west africa. >> really quickly, there continues to be a bit of confusion over the cdc's do not board list. this do not board list. what more can you tell us about the existence of this list and whether we know anyone who's on the list now. >> yeah, this is similar to the home

ebola. we have also provided the august 27th dallas county health department algorithm and screening questionnaire. at 10:30 p.m. on september 25th, mr. duncan presented to texas health presbyterian dallas emergency department with a fever of 100.1. abdominal pain, dizziness, nausea and headache. systems that could be associated with many other illnesses. he was examined and underwent numerous tests over a period of four hours. during his time in the e.d. his temperature spiked to 103 degrees fahrenheit but dropped to 101.2. he was discharged early on the morning of september 26th and we have provided a timeline on the notable events of mr. duncan's initial emergency department visit. on september 28th, mr. duncan was transported to the hospital by ambulance. once he arrived at the hospital he met several of the criteria of the ebola algorithm. at that time -- >> i'm wolf blitzer in washington. we will monitor this hearing and get back to it. it's 1:00 p.m. in washington, 7:00 p.m. in brusse

is ebola as contagious as a patient with ebola? and waste from is not particularly hearty, and it can be destroyed by autoclaving and by combination of different chemicals. >> is it different from other medical wastes? >> you want to be certain when you are getting rid of it that -- >> is the cdc assessing the medical waste of ebola patients and does the cdc allow off-site disposal of ebola medical waste? with thek very closely department of transportation and the commercial waste management companies to ensure that capability. danger inave an added having to truck this waste and move it to facilities. in theemployees processing centers being trained in how to dispose of this waste? >> we have detailed guidelines as to how to dispose of this waste from ebola patients. >> you and i talked about the troops from fort campbell who are going to be over there. and i have questions from some of my constituents. are the american troops going to come in contact with any ebola patients or with those exposed to ebola or those included with an

we know about ebola. cdc has an entire group of professionals who spend their entire careers working on ebola. they stop outbreaks all the time. outbreaktopped every except the current one in africa. there is zero doubt in my mind that are in a mutation there in thet be an outbreak u.s.. it warrants attention but it's important to put it in perspective. >> i agree. additionaly authority that cdc would find helpful in conducting your responsibilities. specific authority that would make it easier to do your job? >> we are looking at a variety of things, procurement, for example, to see if there are changes that might allow us to respond more quickly and effectively. >> thank you. i yield back. fore recognize mr. johnson five minutes. >> thank you for being here. thank all of you on the panel for being here today. politics orabout international diplomacy. this is about public health and protecting the safety of the american people, particularly our health care workers who are some of the high risk folks to b

. >> the ebola case is more than -- >> ebola in the big apple. >> ebola in new york city tonight couldersey. >> it arrived via a doctor. was the doctor contagious when he went bowling. >> who knows whether i used the bathrooms. >> came down with 10 fever. >> this disease is fierce. did his actions put the public at risk? >> see, calm, cool and catch that doctor and kill him! >> all right, i guess in new york lost our heads for a second. >> jon: a doctor who6 treat eba cases got himself ebola and [bleep] his way through the "sex and the city" tour in manhattan with 103 degree fever. >> we were told yesterday that it was 10 it was actually 100.3. >> jon: didn't anyone treating him double check it and see? that he had a fever of 100.3? because from the looks of it this man is -- all right. so maybe -- nice to have an older audience. all right. so maybe this doctor gallivanted around the city, how much gallivanting could one guy with ebola do in just a day or two? >> tuesday spencer felt sluggish. the next day feeling well enough for a three mile jog stopping at blue bottle coffee on the

ebola survivor. donating his own plaza. to other ebola patients here in the united states.earching with devotion ♪for a snack that isn't lame ♪but this... ♪takes my breath away so i can reach ally bank 24/7, but there are24/7branches? it's just i'm a little reluctant to try new things. what's wrong with trying new things? feel that in your muscles? yeah... i do... try a new way to bank, where no branches equals great rates. for over 19 million people. [ alex ] transamerica helped provide a lifetime of retirement income. so i can focus on what matters most. [ female announcer ] everyone has a moment when tomorrow becomes real. transamerica. >>> well, the midst of the ebola crisis. a few success stories, very few. one is dr. kent brantly. ebola survivor. he and nancy writebol contracted the virus caring for ebola patients in liberia. they were treated at emory university hospital. both recovered. dr. brantly saying good-bye to the team at emory who cared for him. released in late august. his work helping ebola patients has not stopped however. dr. brantly donated plasma, his

or are sick with ebola from traveling.artment of homeland security is in the process of advising all travelers returning to the u.s. from countries with ebola outbreaks in west africa to monitor their health for 21 days and to immediately seek medical help if any symptoms do develop. the centers for disease control stands ready as it has in dallas to deploy expert teams when needed. finally, our scientists at the food and drug administration and the national institutes of health are working tirelessly to develop new vaccines and treatments for ebola. we remain focused on working with our partners on the ground to stop the epidemic at its source and we're continuing to take the necessary precautions across the united states government to prevent the epidemic from spreading further. and i'd like to now turn to dr. tony fauci, the director of the national institute of allergy and infectious diseases to talk a little bit about epidemiology. >> thank you very much, secretary burwell. i'd like to provide some basic but important

, thesymptoms of travel history that is there for ebola and how to detect ebola infections. we on our website have provided facilities and guidance on how to do this and how ded guidance on facilities and physicians should who they individual think is suspected of ebola and how they can place them in so they immediately don't infect others and we have testing for ebola diagnostics around the country offer 24/7 consultative services for people who have uestions about how to handle suspect suspected and /* >> and the public is trying to what happened? and i we have to somehow provide level of confidence to the the difference is still part of the system. other help me if not members of the committee with the response for that? will. ebola untreated ebola 50-90% more talt of including a number of factors including the age of the person. to -- we have d treatingxperience with our developedtern and the outcomes are did he pen tkabt on a number do actors and a lot have to with preexisting illness with the patient and how quickly on of symptoms the patient received therapy and so it

response to ebola. ron klain's resume mainly consists of being former chief of staff to vice president joe biden. with more n this, chief economist for the heritage foundation, dr. scott gottlieb, now with the american enterprise institute, and paul howard, a scholar at the manhattan institute. welcome all. i'm going to start with you and ron klain, longtime political operative, democratic aide, worked for gore, biden, janet reno, you name it, represented fannie mae as a lobbyist. is he the right guy to coordinate our efforts. >> probably not. we need a competency czar, someone who knows how to run things and makes things work in washington. but this is really the pattern of almost all the high-level appointees in almost every department of the obama administration, they are people who are political in nature who share the president's ideology and the president has the right to do that, to put people in charge who share his beliefs. but they're not people who know how to manage anything. that's one of t

to you ebola? >> yes. >> when you heard that what did you think? >> i was scared. i was so scared. >> how did you find out he had ebola? >> they called me, the cdc health department called me and told me he had ebola. >> so what did they tell you that you needed to do? >> to stay home, stay home and monitor my family, take the temperature, they're going to be monitoring all of us. my family should stay home, my nephew, everybody should stay home for 21 days. and we should not have to come outside, if we have to come outside, not further -- >> what did you think when you heard that? >> scared. >> and have you gone outside? >> no, i'm inside, they did not bring food here, they're going to take us to court. that we have committed a crime. they have not offered us any food, any food. >> and again, you're going to hear this in the next part of the interview. the sheets that mr. duncan used, sweated on, those sheets are still on the bed in her apartment. the pillow cases are still there, the soiled towel

and so let me ask you this, is ebola waste as contagious as a patient with ebola. >> ebola waste can be readily decontaminated. the virus itself is not hardy. and killed by bleach and variety of chemiccals. >> is ebola waste more dangerous than other medical waste? >> the severity of the ebola infection is higher. you want to be certain to hand it. >> is cvc assessing the canability of hospitals eliminating the waste and allow off sight of ebola medical waste. >> the latter question. yes, we worked with the department of transportation as well as the commercial wastes management companies. >> we have an admissibilitied danger in having to truck this waste and move it to facilities? >> and are the employees in the processing centers trained of how to expose of ebola waste. >> we have detailed guidelines for the west of ebola patients! you and i talked about the troops over fort campbell and my constitients have questions. will the american troops come in contact with ebola patients or those exposed to ebola or included in any of these controlled movement groups? >> as i happen it from

ebola is not like the flu. ebola is not transmitted through the air.bola is not transmitted through the food that we eat in this country and it's not transmitted through the water that we drink in this country. the only way an individual can get ebola is by coming into close contact with the bodily fluids of an individual that's already exhibiting symptoms of ebola. that's why in this case tragically we've seen two health care workers that were obviously in very close contact with the index ebola patient contract this virus. how exactly that transmission occurred is something that remains under investigation, but the risk to which they were exposed was elevated by the fact that they were in close contact with this patient trying to meet that person's medical needs. okay. >> to follow up. the president used the word epidemic. yesterday you used the word outbreak. that's something exceedingly chances are low. isn't what we have in dallas now outbreak, multiple transmissions? >> well, i think there's a medical professional who could give you a specific de

a special program on ebola. the centers for disease control insists the odds of contracting ebola here in our country are still extremely low. so how exactly can it be spread? dr. siegel, we are told first bodily fluids, vomit, blood, sweat, sal ief a then in the new york city they say it can live on a countertop, door knob for a few hours. can you touch something and get ebola? >> the answer is that's extremely unlikely. give you an example why. there was a patient in 1986 went to the hospital, was there 12 days, encountered 300 people, no one knew he had ebola. you know how many got ebola from him? zero. it is a very, very hard virus to get. why? it lives in blood, vomit, in diarrhea. it lives a lot less in saliva. some lives in saliva, after two, three days, saliva somehow knocks it out. very little in urine, sweat later stages of the diseases. people say i am on the subway, people are sweating, can i get it. probably. can't deal in never, can't deal in absolute. somebody sick enough to have it in sweat is no

ebola czar. our senior white house correspondent jim acosta is following the story. seems like there's been a shift in white house strategy as far as the ebola czar is considered over the past few days? >> reporter: a big shift. and the white house is not calling ron klain a czar. he's what they're calling the, quote, ebola response coordinator. and unlike a czar, klain will not be his own boss. hammered for days over its lack of ebola leadership, the white house is confident a remedy is now in place. >> we've got an all hands on deck approach across government to make sure that we are keeping the american people safe. >> reporter: the latest hands on deck, ron klain, tapped to become the president's ebola response coordinator, a former chief of staff to both vice presidents joe biden and al gore, klain was made famous during the 2000 election recount and the film that followed. >> mr. vice president, our battle is not yet done. >> reporter: but klain has no medical experience. what does ron klai

brantly got ebola. on august 1st he doesn't even think it's very con teenagous. -- contagious. >> don't they all know that? >> it seems like this is a political move. in a lot of ways, to say okay, look, we are bringing in someone else who is just going to handle it. >> bring in dr. tom coburn, u.s. senate, bring in a republican who might at least put down some of the temperature on the political. >> that's a lot of the criticism that you are hearing, someone with some medical experience. >> burr well has got to deal with obamacare so she has her hands full already. >> you aren't appalled by this choice? >> i think it's an unusual pick. >> unusual or appalled? >> let's see how he does. >> this is a political choice. one operative today told the "new york times" that klain would help with messaging and turning down the political heat on that. >> it is inconceivable to me that we are talking about making political choices when many in the nation, whether rightfully or wrongfully terrified of ebola. inconc

hospital executive says no one knows how the two nurses who treated the first ebola patient caught ebola themselves. he apologized for sending the first patient home after he went to the emergency room. >> if you were to get sick knowing how close texas presbyterian is, would you go to that hospital? >> no, not right now. >> reporter: we talked to two women who used to go to this hospital but since the ebola outbreak they'll go elsewhere. >> if you ever got sick presby will be your hospital to go to. >> yes. had all my kids there. all my doctors were affiliated with it. >> if you needed to go to the doctor, would you go there now? >> no. i just don't think it's safe. >> we have a great team that makes sure we know the protocols. >> reporter: the hospital's new new york-based public relations team posted these two positive messages on youtube. >> i feel i work in a safe environment. >> reporter: this is not a concern just in dallas, this say concern for the whole country. >> this is an american problem. it needs american solution and american compassion. >> from the federal government? >>

no one knew he had ebola. you know how many people got ebola from him? zero., very hard to -- virus to get. why? it lives in blood, it lives in vomit, diarrhea. it lives a lot less in saliva. after two or three days, saliva knocks it out. very little in urine and in sweat. somebody says can i get it from sweat? probably. i'm not talking never here. but somebody that is sick enough to have it in their sweat is not likely to be riding the subway. that's when they are likely to be in the intensive care unit. but if the secretions are on surfaces, it can live for hours. people out there, in west africa, they don't use toilet paper. so it's very easy there to transmit this virus in seek kre secretions. >> so dr. siegel, gretchen was asking, with planes from africa landing in new york, how concerned should nyc residents be worried about riding a train? >> i wouldn't say zero but it's remote. >> all of those drop lets could be part of direct contact. when you go into a room to examine a patient? you wear masks, gowns, cover your shoes. now, the concentration of this

nina pham, the dallas nurse who contracted ebola when she was ahelping an ebola patient, she's now ebolaree. and she'll be holding a press conference explaining why she's being discharged, and

ebola victim. tople who have been exposed ebola but have no fever or symptoms cannot transmit the virus. not allow fear and panic resolve, nor force us to abandon the values that country.s great everybody has a job to do in this outbreak. federal, state and local governments are doing their job. congress to pass the appropriations necessary to isht ebola in africa, which the best way to stem the humankind andect for you to perform your important role in the strengthening and streamlining ebola response in the united states. we are doing sting that has not been done before and we -- has not been done before, and we cannot fail. the ebola virus in texas. help us win this fight. must win now. work with us to fight this abroad and strengthen our public health security. thank you. judge.k you, the chair recognizes the next speaker. ranking you, chairman, member lee and members of the committee. infectious disease epidemiologist at the university of texas and i've also practiced local health at the level

he must have come in contact with someone who had ebola or who died from ebola sometime in the last weekally good question. if ebola isn't spread through the air, why are doctors dressed like astronauts when they encounter patients? >> the full protective suits is for a particular reason. these suits are designed to cover your skin. here's what we know. ebola even a small amount of it in somebody's body fluid if it gets on your skin or gets in your eyes or in your mouth, nose, anything, it can cause an infection. when you are dealing with patients, people who are sick with ebola, you have to cover all of your skin. that's the real goal. you see me doing that. i was doing that when i was in west africa with the doctors without borders ebola camp. >> here's another good question. what about infected bodily fluids that went into the dallas waste treatment system. people wants to know if that stuff went through the toilet and into the system. >> right. a couple things. first of all, the bottom line is that's not a risk to the general public. keep in mind a couple things. viruses are organism

people on the front lines are fighting ebola. the enemy here is the virus. ebola. it's not a person. it's not a country. it's not a place. it's not a hospital. it's a virus. it's a virus that is tough to fight. but together i'm confident we will stop it. we need to all take responsibility for improving the safety of those on the front lines. i feel awful that a healthcare worker became infected in the care of an ebola patient. she was there trying to help the first patient survive. now she has become infected. all of us have to work together to do whatever possible to reduce the risk that any other healthcare worker becomes infe infected. when we think about hotels where ebola care can be given, the first is diagnosis. every hospital in the country needs to think about the possibility of bobble, and anyone with the fever and symptoms of ebola and who has traveled to the three countries of liberia, sierra leone and guinea in the last 6 21 days, second is the care of ebola once the diagnosis has been made. i think what we recognize is that care is complex, and we're

and ebola. member of the obama white house taking heat for downplaying the threat from the beginning. all while the left is trying to politicize this and blame it on republicans. we'll try to check in on with the architect on politicizing of this for his reaction. >>> first, meet the parents of the nbc cameraman who did come down with ebola. they'll give us an exclusive update on his condition coming up. >>> later, our question of the day. much more ahead. thank you for being my hero and my dad. military families are uniquely thankful for many things, the legacy of usaa auto insurance could be one of them. if you're a current or former military member or their family, get an auto insurance quote and see why 92% of our members plan to stay for life. coube a breakthrough wayrip to get immediate and long lasting sensitivity relief instead of sensitivity toothpaste? find out, with new crest sensi-stop strips. just apply to the gumline of sensitive teeth for a quick 10 minutes. the special ingredient

ebola is not like the flu. ebola is not transmitted through the air.bola is not transmitted through the food that we eat in this country, and it's not transmitted through the water that we drink in this country. the only way that an individual can get ebola is by coming into close contact with the bodily fluids of an individual that is already exhibiting symptoms of ebola. that's why in this case tragically we've seen two health care workers that obviously were in very close contact with the index ebola patient contract this virus. how exactly that transmission occurred is something that remains under investigation, but the risk to which they were exposed was elevated by the fact that they were in close contact with this patient trying to meet that person's medical needs. okay? mark. >> may i follow-up? >> sure. >> the president used the word epidemic. yesterday you used the word yoit break as something that chances are exceedingly low. isn't what we've had in dallas now an outbreak. we've had multiple transmissions. >> well, i think there is a medical

two nurses caring for an ebola patient in texas, both contracted ebola.and was the breakdown? among the nurses and the care they afforded or in the hospital administration? >> it was actually in the hands of the hospital administration for the breakdown and it wasn't communications. it was actually lack of preparation, lack of training and lack of practice with all of the protective equipment that would be needed to provide care for mr. duncan. >> dr. gupta, that doesn't bode well, then, for caring for other ebola patients should there be other ebola patients at hospitals across the country. what of my idea that the model instead should be of instead of instilling the ability to diagnose ebola but then to treat those patients at only a handful of select facilities. >> i can see where that would be appealing especially given what happened in dallas and i agree with deborah in terms of what happened in dallas. michael, a couple things to keep in mind. this becomes a question, first of all, if you're sending patients from wherever they might arrive in the un

but it could be ebola.t's in the process -- >> he's been in the united states for five days. has he been sick all that time? >> it's not entirely clear how long he's been sick but he's felt sick for a while. this is not sudden. >> is it just today that he's gone to the hospital, do we know? >> yeah, that's our understanding is that he just got to the hospital. >> and it's fascinating to know that -- do we know when we'll get test results? >> the test can be done in about four to six hours. i'm told that it's in the process of being sent to atlanta. they're also sending a specimen to another lab that's closer to kansas. by tomorrow, they should know. >> fascinating news that the nurse here has received a blood transfusion from dr. kent brantly. that's also our breaking news tonight. elizabeth, thanks so much. president obama met with senior administration officials at the white house this afternoon to talk about the response the new dallas case and how the country as a whole is prepared to deal with an outbr

she is ebola-free right now. let's bring in cnn national reporter nick valencia over at emory university hospital in atlanta. and also joining us, dr. seema yasmin. she's now a staff writer for "the dallas morning news." nick, set the scene for us. walk us through what we're about to see. >> reporter: we are expecting to hear from amber vinson, her first public comments since doctors said she is clear of the ebola virus. she landed here in atlanta at emory university hospital on october 15th having been transferred from her home hospital, texas presbyterian, they say because of a staffing issue. also there's a remarkable precedence set by emory university in their serious communicable disease unit. they have treated four patients for the ebola virus, all of them have been treated and released. i understand that amber vinson may be making her way to the podium. we'll send it back to you so you can update our viewers. >> she's sitting down right now with a nice, big smile. you see the doctors there, the nurses ther

but ebola's very unusual. and looking after it requires a very particular set of procedures with protective gear. we have two questions about the protect give gear, one is the cdc protocol good enough, even if you do the protocol perfectly, is it good enough? i think the answer is probably not. bear in mind if you work for a charity in africa you would be wearing more protective equipment than either of these nurses was wearing. >> and what -- go ahead. >> that's fine. you go ahead. >> this question about hospital-acquired infections. even on a perfect day, you have hospitals in the united and in europe, quite frankly, that have trouble stopping hospital-acquired infections. this particular case is really, really stunning. you're talking liters and liters of body fluids coming out of this patient who is highly, highly contagious. if they can't control these kinds of -- if they can't control bugs on a regular day, do they have what it takes to control something like this? >> what i say, the current things we're

they don't have an ebola problem, they have a political problem about ebola. therefore it makes sense that you would have a political fixer, which is what ron klain is. he's not famous for being joe biden's chief of staff. that's not exactly the a-number-one job in washington. the thing he's famous for is in 2000 he tried to save the election for al gore down in florida. and i can promise you this, counselor, if kevin spacey has played you in the you are not the guy who is going to be dr. killdare. you are there to fix a political problem. and that's what ron klain's there to do. >> i mean, is it a little on the nose? we've seen the administration go full political before in response to a crisis. but maybe there'd be a little window dressing? maybe he'd at least have an m.d., maybe did a stint at the cdc or some place. this is so obvious this is a political choice. >> but wait, it's the same in many ways as with what's gone on with the islamist militants in iran and syria. we've got this under control, you people are overreacting, overreacting until the politi

it turned out he did not have ebola. earlier this week, the montgomery cy council asked the health department if all local hospitals had made preparations for ebola. council member roger berliner says he believes all ebola patient should be taken to nih. >> i for one believe that when you have a state-of-the-art instit like nih, when you have a case that could possibly be ploel, that you want to make sure that the best, brightest and institution that was built for this purpose fundamentally is the place where people go. >> reporter: and nurse nina pham released a statement this evening, thanking her co-workers for the excellent care she has received in dallas, coming here to nih. and ahead, we will be talking to people who live and work in bethesda. and their reaction to the news that an ebola patient is being transferred here as of tonight. we'll have that ahead on news4 at 5:00. that's the latest live in bethesda. ba to you. >>> now the latest on amber vinson, the second nurse to be infected in texas after treating ebo

is it ebola waste as contagious as a patient with ebola? >> ebola waste, waste from ebola patients, and be readily decontaminated. the virus itself is not particularly hardy. is killed by bleach, by a variety of chemicals. ebola waste more dangerous than other medical waste? >> the severity of the infection is higher, so you want to be certain when you're getting rid of it -- >> is the cdc assessing the capabilities of hospitals to manage the waste of ebola patients, and does the cdc allow off-site disposal of ebola medical waste? >> my understanding is the latter question, yes, we work closely with the department of transportation as well as the commercial waste management companies to ensure that capability. inso we have an added danger having to truck this waste and move it to facilities. are the employees at the processing centers been trained and how to dispose of ebola waste? >> we have detailed guidelines for the disposal of medical waste from the care of ebola patients. >> all right. you and i talked about my troops from fort campbe

especially in naming this ebola czar.ss the question really is why isn't this something where both parties can agree. in the end this is about all of our public health. >> you would think of all the things you could at least bipartisan agreement on it would be how to deal and address a pandemic. republicans, again, this is political season, a week or so away from an election. they are going to pounce as they have been on this. unfortunately i think it's a little bit tone deaf to what the american people want. can the administration, should the administration have done a better job in communicating this? yes. in fairness, we're dealing with unchartered territories here in terms of this kind of disease. what you would hope in this circumstance is that everyone would try to understand both parties, from the president, governors, that, you know what? let's figure out a way to address this so we're not stoking public fears. unfortunately that's not happened as much as it should have. >> you know, i got to be honest. democrats

duncan, had ebola. but that's one too many and we're open to ideas for what we can do to keep americans as safe as possible as long as the outbreak is continuing. we also have established emergency response teams from cdc that will go within hours to any hospital that has an ebola case to help them provide effective care safely. there's a lot of understandable concern about the cases in dallas. i have one slide if we can show it of the contact tracing activities there. i think we've provided copies for the members. the two core activities in dallas are to insure there's effective infection control and to trace contacts. here you see a timeline of exactly what has happened in the identification of contacts. we have followed each of the contacts. when any become ill or if any become ill we immediately isolate them so that we can break the chain of transmission. that's how you stop ebola. i can go through the details when you wish. we also are working to ensure there's effective infection control there and

ebola has been around since 1976. this is the fifth generation ebola vaccine. it looks very good in the animal models where it seems to be pleatly protected. of course you don't know until you try this out in human patients whether it's going to be safe and whether it will work. we didn't start just three -- we did start three weeks ago with a phase one trial. so far all is going well. no red flags to indicate there's a problem with the vackzeen. it will take now a couple of months to see whether those individuals mount an immune response that you would think would be protected against acquiring the disease. if the data looks promising then we need to move quickly to get this into a phase 2 trial in west africa in individuals who are at risk. all all of that is very complicated in a circumstance where there's a great deal of stress as you can imagine on the health care system. we're determined to figure out a way to do that. >> what's the timeline, dr. collins? what are you looking at? >> again, it will be november before we have the evidence about whether the

they didn't ask him about ebola? it didn't seem to register the fact that he came from liberia. >> no, they did not ask. >> he was having a lot of dia diarrh diarrhea. >> yes that's how the diarrhea started. he was not even using the bathroom until when he started taking that antibiotic. that's huh he started having diarrhea. >> okay. >> he still had a fever? >> yeah, and he run a fever. awe thought was friday you came home. how was he over the weekend? >> it was friday when he came home. and saturday he started with the diarrhea. >> what day did you end up going to the hospital again? >> it was sunday. sunday morning when i want to work, my daughter came back, to bring his tea. that's how she cam to him. he was sick. and she called the ambulance. >> it is your daughter who called the ambulance. what made her call the ambulance. >> she said he was shaking, really shaking. hot fever and he was shaking. >> right. so did you go to the hospital? >> i went to the hospital right away. >> and were you able to see them there

>> we are learning new things about ebola. ebola has never been in this hemisphere before. we are developing procedures as quickly as possible. >> to the extent the virus is transmitted in the same way when we look at the logistics, the acquisition management, the answer would yes. >> this is outside our purview. >> with that, i will go to the gentlelady from new york. >> thank you. i would first like to thank all of our distinguished panelists for coming today during what is a critical time in the federal government's response to an urgent global crisis. first, i would like to take a moment to commend the health care professionals in new york city for their outstanding