Perry calls for tougher Ebola screening at U.S. entry points Texas Gov. Rick Perry Calls For Added Federal Ebola Screening
Announces Creation of Task Force to Enhance State’s Ability to Respond to Pandemic Diseases
AUSTIN, Texas—Gov. Rick Perry on Monday called on federal officials
to boost Ebola screening at all U.S. points of entry, as he announced
the creation of a task force to assess and enhance the state’s ability
to respond to pandemic diseases.
Gov. Rick
Perry on Monday called on the federal government to immediately step up
the screening of people coming into the United States at every point of
entry to combat Ebola.
Texas Gov.
Rick Perry on Monday called on the federal government to immediately
step up the screening of people coming into the United States to combat
the spread of the Ebola virus. People coming in from areas
experiencing outbreaks of Ebola and other serious, contagious diseases
would be questioned and could have something as simple as their
temperature taken, Perry said. Anyone who presents a public health
concern would be held at customs and quarantined, he added. Perry
also issued an executive order creating a task force to enhance the
state’s readiness to handle additional cases of Ebola, should they
occur, as well as other infectious diseases, after missteps in Dallas
where the nation’s first Ebola case was diagnosed last week. Perry
said he did not make an official request of the federal government, but
U.S. Customs and Border Protection said in a written statement to the
American-Statesman that it works with the U.S. Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention and has processes in place to detect ill people
traveling from abroad. Travelers are observed and questioned for “overt
signs of illness” at all entry points, and customs workers have gowns,
masks and other protective gear on site, the statement said. “CBP
personnel receive training in illness recognition, but if they identify
an individual believed to be infected, CBP will contact CDC along with
local public health authorities to help with further medical
evaluation,” the statement said. “The traveler would be isolated from
the traveling public while the CDC and local public health authorities
conduct an evaluation.” The Ebola patient in Dallas, Thomas Eric
Duncan of Liberia, was said to have fallen ill after he arrived in the
U.S. Sept. 20. He first went to Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Sept.
25 but was sent back to an apartment where he was staying with a
family, including children. Duncan’s condition worsened and he returned
the hospital three days later, when he was diagnosed. He’s in critical
condition now, and the people who might have been exposed to Ebola are
being monitored in Dallas. “There were mistakes made,” Perry said.
“There will probably be mistakes made in the future as we go forward. I
stand by the fact that the process is working. We don’t have an
outbreak. We have one event that is being handled properly.” The task force, he said, will help ensure that lessons learned from events in Dallas are put in place. Perry
named Dr. Brett Giroir, CEO of the Texas A&M Health Science Center,
as the leader of the 17-member task force, which will assess the
situation, make recommendations and provide timely information to the
public about Ebola and other infectious diseases. “The presence of
Ebola in our state is a serious concern,” Giroir said at the news
conference, flanked by the governor and other members of the committee.
“However, all appropriate identification and control measures have been
implemented and are working to prevent any additional transmission of
the disease beyond those contacts potentially already exposed and now
being carefully monitored. … “Remember, this is the first Ebola
patient diagnosed in the United States and it would be foolish to
believe there would be no lessons learned,” Giroir said. The task force intends to share its expertise with officials in other states, Perry said. Before
joining the health science center last year, Giroir was the principal
investigator in a partnership program between Texas A&M University
and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that sought to
enhance the nation’s emergency preparedness against emerging infectious
diseases. From 2004 to 2008, Giroir was the federal government’s
deputy director and later, director, of the Defense Sciences Office of
the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, which handled research
that included biodefense.
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