Former Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) director Robert Redfield has gone on record saying he suspects the recent Ebola outbreak is going to become a “very significant pandemic.” He now joins Africa CDC director-general Dr. Jean Kaseya in expressing strong concern about the spread of the often-fatal virus.
As of Friday, 575 suspected cases and 148 suspected deaths have been reported, according to the CDC. So far, however, no Ebola cases associated with the outbreak have been reported in the United States.
“This is an outbreak right now that is really a significant outbreak that’s of significant public health international concern, partially because what you said, it wasn’t recognized very quickly. I’m not sure why,” Robert Redfield told NewsNation.
“Normally we recognize them when we have five, ten cases, you know, at most,” he continued. “This one really wasn’t picked up until there was over 100 cases. As you said, now there’s over 500 cases. There’s close to 150 deaths already, and it’s moving very rapidly.”
The number of Ebola cases may actually be over 1,000
The Ebola outbreak is believed to have started in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Earlier this week, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared it a “public health emergency of international concern.” The MRC Centre for Global Infectious Disease Analysis has estimated the true number of cases could actually be more than 1,000.
“Currently, I’m on panic mode because people are dying. I don’t have medicines. I don’t have [a] vaccine to support countries,” said Dr. Kaseya.
“I suspect this is going to become a very significant pandemic, probably going to leak into Tanzania, leak into southern Sudan, maybe leak into Rwanda,” Redfield added during his NewsNation interview. “It’s going to be very disruptive.”
On May 17, an American who was exposed while working with patients in the Democratic Republic of the Congo tested positive for Ebola, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The patient is being treated and cared for in Germany. Additionally, high-risk contacts related to this exposure are being transferred to the Czech Republic and Germany.