Could the Ebola outbreak in Africa spread to the US and would it be a big issue if it did?
The current Ebola outbreak in West Africa is the largest in history [1]. The virus is spread through direct contact with the blood or bodily fluids of an infected person [2]. It is theoretically possible that a person with Ebola could travel to another country on a plane and infect others outside of the region [1, 2]. However, it is unlikely that the virus would spread further in communities in the United States or other developed countries with systems in place to contain such deadly infections [1, 2]. Although the World Health Organization has yet to impose any travel restrictions on the area, emphasizing that it is "highly unlikely" for the outbreak to spread by plane [4], WHO spokesman Gregory Hartl said it is equally unlikely for an American traveler to bring the disease back [4].
The current Ebola outbreak in West Africa is the largest in history, but how likely is it to spread to the United States or other countries around the world [1]? It's theoretically possible that people with Ebola could travel to other countries on planes, and infect others outside the region [1]. However, it's extremely unlikely that the virus would then cause further outbreaks in communities in the United States or other developed countries with systems in place to contain such deadly infections [1]. Health officials do not think that there is a risk of sustained spread of Ebola in the United States [2, 4]. Ebola's transmission requires close contact with bodily fluids, such as blood or secretions [3]. It's possible that a small cluster of cases could occur in a hospital setting in the United States, because healthcare workers have this type of close contact with their patients, but control procedures would prevent further spread [3].