Even though there are no active Ebola cases currently in the U.S., the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Tom Frieden, MD, MPH, recently returned from a trip to West Africa and said Ebola support is still needed there.
The West African nations of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone have been dealing with the Ebola outbreak since the beginning of 2014, and Dr. Frieden said contact tracing improvements are "urgently needed" along with other improvements.
"We've got a long way to go and this is no time to relax our grip on the response," he said during a telebriefing. "Stopping this outbreak at its source in West Africa is essential in order to protect Americans. That is why CDC is on the ground."
The CDC has 170 staff members in West Africa working on the outbreak, with more than 150 in the field each day. Congress recently approved more than $1 billion in funds to strengthen the international response and preparedness for Ebola.