US President Barack Obama said in an Ebola conference call on Wednesday he would make sure that all state authorities and medical institutions had learned their lesson from the unfortunate death of America's first Ebola patient.
"As we saw in Dallas, we don't have a lot of margin for error. If we don't follow protocols and procedures that are put in place, then we're putting folks in our communities at risk," Obama said in a call-up conversation with state and local officials.
"We're going to make sure that lessons learned in Dallas and clear procedures and protocols for health and safety officials are conveyed to all of you," he added.
On Wednesday, Washington announced additional screening measures that will be phased in over the coming days and weeks at select airports around the United States.
The US president also said that the government was "working with hospitals across the country so that local partners are truly prepared should someone who has a history of travel to the affected countries in West Africa start showing symptoms."
Tom Frieden, who heads the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), said at a press conference earlier in the day that hospital workers in the United States should suspect every patient with high temperature of being infected with the deadly Ebola virus. He also urged hospitals to ask their patients if they had been to West Africa in the past 21 days, which is the maximum incubation period for the virus.
The Ebola epidemic currently taking place in West Africa broke out in southern Guinea in February, and later spread across Liberia, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, and Senegal. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the death toll from the epidemic has surpassed 3,800.
Last week, a Liberian national was diagnosed with Ebola in Texas, after traveling from his homeland to visit relatives in the United States. Also, several Americans have been diagnosed with the disease in West African countries and treated on the US territory.
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