David Dausey, a researcher at Mercyhurst University, says the US should close its borders to travelers from Ebola-afflicted nations

A top epidemiologist is speaking out to say the US must stop all commercial flights from Ebola-stricken West African nations in order to prevent more outbreaks on American soil.

David Dausey, a Yale-educated academic who has been nationally recognized for his research on the spread of infectious diseases, says the bungling public health response to US Ebola patient Thomas Eric Duncan proves that the country cannot afford another case.

Duncan had contact with 100 people in his short time in the US before he was admitted to a hospital. Nearly half of them are still under observation.

Writing in the Washington Post, Dr Dausey argues: 'The human errors in this single case highlight why it is urgent that we ban all commercial flights from the impacted countries to all non-affected countries until the outbreak is contained.'

Dr Dausey, the dean of the School of Health Professions and Public Health at Mercyhurst University in Erie, Pennsylvania, is one of the first experts to publicly call for the US to close its borders to West Africa.

US officials have refused to close US borders to travelers from Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea - the three countries where Ebola continues to spread like wildfire.

On Friday, Centers for Disease Control director Thomas Frieden said closing to borders to West Africans would only make the Ebola outbreak worse by cutting off the supply of aide and strangling the local economies.

No U.S. airlines fly to Liberia, Sierra Leone or Guinea, but Brussels Airlines and other European carriers are still offering service from the West African capitals.

Duncan flew from Monrovia, Liberia, to Brussels then boarded to United Airlines flight to Washington Dulles International Airport, where he was allowed to enter the country. He then flew to Dallas and days later began experiencing symptoms of Ebola. He is now in critical condition at a Dallas hospital.

Congress is becoming increasingly uneasy with the open borders and lawmakers are beginning to make public calls to close US borders to travelers from the Ebola-afflicted nations.

Dr Dausey argues that screening to prevent people infected with Ebola from coming into the country is inadequate. Currently, travelers are only screened in West Africa before they leave.

Nearly 7,500 people have been infected with Ebola in West Africa and nearly 3,500 have died of the disease. The outbreak remains active only in Liberia (pictured), Sierra Leone and Guinea

Bungled response: Thomas Eric Duncan was sent home from the hospital when he was first admitted. Then, it took days for anyone to remove his infected garments from the Dallas apartment where he was staying

President Barack Obama announced on Monday that new measures would be installed to screen travelers fro Ebola before they enter the US.

However, the disease has a 21-day incubation period, meaning that travelers who know they're infected could easily pass through security without showing any signs.

Duncan is accused of lying to airport screeners in Monrovia and claiming he had no contact with anyone afflicted with the disease.

Dr Dausey says this kind of behavior is only reasonable, given the dire situation at many hospitals in the West African nations, which are among the poorest in the world.

'If they stay in Africa, the probability that they will survive the illness if they have it is quite low. If they make it to the United States, they can expect to receive the best medical care the world can provide, and they will have a much higher probability of survival,' he writes.

'So they are motivated to lie about their exposure status (wouldn’t you, in their shoes?) to airlines and public health officials and travel to the United States.'