Ebola Viruses exuding from infected cell. IC: NIAD
Obama Warns the Ebola Virus Could Mutate If Outbreak is not Controlled
Speaking to NBC News’ “Meet the Press,” Obama said that the Ebola outbreak that has killed more than 1,500 people in West Africa is a national security policy and that the United States has a responsibility to help contain it.
“What I’ve said, and I said this two months ago to our national security team, is we have to make this a national security priority,” Obama stated. “We have to mobilize the international community, get resources in there.” ... “If we don’t make that effort now, and this spreads not just through Africa but other parts of the world, there’s the prospect then that the virus mutates,” Obama told NBC News. “It becomes more easily transmittable. And then it could be a serious danger to the United States.” ... “When we make those short-term investments now, it really pays a lot of dividends in the future,” Obama said.
Obama’s comments on the Ebola outbreak come as the White House sent Congress a request for $30 million to pay for the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s efforts to help contain the Ebola outbreak in western Africa.
This $30 million would be in addition to $58 million already requested to speed the development of drugs and vaccines, and would be used "for agency epidemiologists and intelligence officers who are tracing the spread of the disease in Africa."