Rep. Cory Gardner, R-Colo., poses questions to top U.S. health officials during a hearing Thursday in Washington about the Ebola outbreak.
By Lauren Fox
Congress Republicans pushed the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to seek an immediate travel ban to combat the deadly Ebola outbreak during a tense hearing Thursday before a House subcommittee in Washington.
'We should not be allowing these folks in, period,' said Rep. Fred Upton, R-Mich.
The World Health Organization estimates the Ebola outbreak centered in West Africa already has killed 4,493 people, and recent U.S. efforts to engage in stopping the crisis come as concern over the epidemic spreading in the U.S. grows. Already this week, two new cases have been announced after nurses at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital contracted the disease while caring for Thomas Eric Duncan, an Ebola victim who traveled from Liberia to the U.S. and eventually died on Oct. 8.
[ READ: Ebola Travel Ban Sought by Wave of Congressmen]
Yet health officials and Democrats at Thursday's hearing before a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee were resistant to the idea that cutting off travel from West Africa to the U.S. is a necessary step that would prove effective.
'We remain confident that Ebola is not a significant public health threat to the United States,' CDC Director Dr. Thomas Frieden said. 'Ebola can be stopped with rapid diagnosis, appropriate triage and meticulous infection-control practices in American hospitals.'
Frieden described Ebola as a 'scary disease,' but said banning travel would inhibit the CDC from tracking and testing people coming in and out of the country. Such a restriction, he said, could have unintended consequences if individuals scrambled to find alternative ways into the U.S.
'Wouldn't we just force these people to hide their origins?' said Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif.However, the White House is still weighing its options, Frieden told lawmakers.
'We have discussed the issue of travel,' Frieden said. 'We would consider anything that would reduce the risk to Americans.'
Members of Congress running for Senate also used the hearing to make their positions on Ebola clear before their upcoming elections. Rep. Cory Gardner, R-Colo., aggressively pushed Frieden to move forward on the travel ban.
[ ALSO: Hospitals Lack Ebola Preparation]
A particularly spirited part of the session occurred as newly minted House Majority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., peppered Frieden with questions on whether U.S. troops deployed to West Africa would be protected from the disease. There are already roughly 500 troops stationed in the region with the potential of up to 4,000 eventually being deployed as part of a U.S. plan to combat Ebola in West Africa. Among other tasks, the Pentagon plans to build 17 clinics for Ebola treatment, and service members already are staffing several Ebola testing labs in Liberia.
Frieden assured Scalise that troops were properly equipped to handle the disease in West Africa, but he would not say there was 'zero risk' to U.S. soldiers.
'We have to do better than this,' Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., said.
In his opening testimony, Dr. Daniel Varga - chief clinical officer of Texas Health Resources, the parent company of the Dallas-area hospital where the two young nurses contracted Ebola - apologized for any lapses that occurred at his facility.
Recent reports indicate that medical staffers were not properly trained or fully outfitted and covered to protect themselves against the contagious disease.
'Despite our best intentions and highly skilled medical team, we made mistakes,' Varga said. 'We are deeply sorry.'
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