David Jackson

USA TODAY

WASHINGTON — While urging other countries to do more to help contain the deadly Ebola virus in West Africa, President Obama said Monday his team is looking at tighter screenings of airline passengers coming into the United States.

"We have not seen other countries step up as aggressively as they need to," Obama said following the meeting that came a week after the first U.S. case of Ebola surfaced in Dallas.

The president pledged more "pressure" on fellow foreign leaders to "make sure that they are doing everything that they can to join us in this effort."

He did not specify which leaders and which countries.

Nor did he specify additional security measures, except to say "we're also going to be working on protocols to do additional passenger screening, both at the source (in West Africa) and here in the United States."

The president and his aides, including public health officials, evaluated their anti-Ebola strategies to decide whether more measures are needed to help keep the virus out of the United States, officials said.

The administration is under increased pressure in light of the case in Dallas, where a man infected with Ebola during a trip to Africa is fighting for his life. The president and aides "discussed the progress health officials in Texas have made in identifying and monitoring the contacts of the patient in Dallas," said a White House statement.

Obama and his national security aides also met as a nurse in Spain became the first person known to catch Ebola outside of West Africa.

The chances of an Ebola epidemic in the United States are "extremely low," Obama said, but he added that "we don't have a lot of margin for error."

The president and aides stressed that the virus is not transmitted through the air or water, but rather through the exchange of bodily fluids.

Administration officials said they are pleased with screening procedures at airports but will study other suggestions — plenty of which are being made by lawmakers and members of the public.

"Our experts continue to be confident that the medical infrastructure that we have in place in this country is sufficient to prevent an Ebola outbreak from occurring," White House spokesman Josh Earnest said.

He also referred to a comment Friday by Obama homeland security adviser Lisa Monaco, who said that "we are constantly going to evaluate what may be the most effective measures we can take."

One proposal that officials have ruled out, so far: a travel ban to and from West Africa, the main source of the virus. Earnest cited existing protocols at the nation's airports and border entry points and said that "we have a lot of confidence in that multi-layered system."

Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said federal agents at airports should conduct more stringent screenings for travelers from West Africa, including taking their temperature.

Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Fla., also called for "tighter screening of those trying to enter our country from Ebola-ravaged nations," particularly Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea.

Obama is also deploying troops to West Africa to help officials in those countries fight the virus.

The goal is "to move supplies and personnel into the region to try to meet the needs of the individuals who are affected by Ebola and to stop this outbreak at the source," Earnest said.