(CNN) -- Today's world is more interconnected than ever, making the transmission of communicable diseases that originate abroad easier to reach our shores. And the ongoing Ebola outbreak is simply the latest unsettling reminder that all the benefits of an interconnected world also come with significant risks that must be addressed and mitigated. This Ebola outbreak likely began with a 2-year-old in the rain forest of GuÃ©ckÃ©dou, Guinea, and it has now reached halfway around the world to Dallas, Texas, where this terrible disease claimed its first victim in the United States, Thomas Eric Duncan, last Wednesday. We have the ability to prevent a significant outbreak of the virus here in the United States, but President Obama must act much more quickly and effectively if we are going to combat the disease at its source, and thus hinder further overseas transmission and ultimately prevent the spread of the disease outside Africa.
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Marco Rubio: Americans lack confidence in government's ability to fight crises like Ebola
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But U.S. is country best equipped to tackle nightmare problems of Ebola, he says
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Important that U.S. help beat the disease in West Africa to ease threat to U.S., Rubio says
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Beginning with the first case in @placeholder last December, the response to the Ebola outbreak by the international community has been slow and inadequate.
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Yet while we need a more effective and rapid response to contain the outbreak in West Africa, we also need to make sure sufficient safeguards are in place to protect @placeholder.
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First, Americans need to have some reassurance that someone in our country is in charge of confronting this epidemic and keeping @placeholder safe from it.
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Fourth, the infection of two health care workers in @placeholder during the treatment of Duncan raises questions about the ability of hospitals across the country to handle the extensive safety protocols required to treat Ebola patients.
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Fourth, the infection of two health care workers in Dallas during the treatment of @placeholder raises questions about the ability of hospitals across the country to handle the extensive safety protocols required to treat Ebola patients.
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A sick child in Africa has advanced into a global health security issue that is now knocking on @placeholder's door.