Tuesday at a joint hearing of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee and Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Dr. Beth Bell said if the Ebola outbreak is not addressed we could be dealing with a epidemic that last for “years to come.”

Bell said, “There is a window of opportunity to control the spread of this disease, but that is closing. If we do not act now to stop Ebola, we could be dealing with it for years to come affecting larger areas of Africa. The worst outbreak in history, but we have tools to stop it and response is urgently needed. The best way is to stop the outbreak in Africa, but it is possible that an infected traveler might arrive in the U.S. Should this occur, we are confident that the health care systems can prevent an outbreak here and recognize they put us in this strong position.”

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