As the Ebola virus continues to spread in West Africa, infecting and killing more people, President Obama said Sunday the U.S. needs to take the lead in the international battle against the epidemic, and the U.S. military will begin providing equipment and resources for that purpose.
“If we don't make that effort now, and this spreads not just through Africa, but other parts of the world, there's the prospect then that the virus mutates, it becomes more easily transmittable, and then it could be a serious danger to the United States,” President Obama said on NBC's "Meet the Press."
To date, the Ebola virus has spread to four West African countries, including most recently Nigeria--Africa's most populous country. The virus has killed about 2,000 of the 4,000 people infected. (An unrelated strain has been reported in Senegal and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.)
Related: Ebola: Why there isn't a vaccine, treatment, or cure
Dr. Scott Gottlieb, a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, who trained as an internist, applauds President Obama's latest statement, but is concerned. "What the president announced is totally appropriate... and better late than never," says Gottlieb. "The administration now recognizes the scope of the geopolitical risks it could create and the risks it could create to the United States."
But Gottlieb notes that the "the nature of this virus is that it mutates very rapidly... [which] could make it harder to diagnose and treat... and potentially could make it more contagious."
Dr. Margaret Chan, director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO), has said, "The Ebola epidemic is the longest, the most severe, and the most complex we've ever seen." And WHO officials estimate the epidemic could eventually infect 20,000 people and cost $600 million to combat.
Dr. Gottlieb says those projections may underestimate the reach of the virus. "Probably the scope of this will go much higher than that 20,000 before they are able to bring this under control," says Gottlieb.
Doctors Without Borders President Dr. Joanne Liu has said, "The world is losing the battle to contain" the epidemic, which she described as the "worst Ebola epidemic in history."
On Friday, WHO announced that two potential vaccines against the Ebola virus could be available as soon as November and would be given first to health care workers most at risk of exposure to the disease.
In addition to vaccines, Dr. Gottlieb says drugs are needed to treat the infection. "We should have a much more concerted effort to try to accelerate the development of these, and a coordinated program between the FDA and other world regulatory agencies. You don't see that yet."