Ebola outbreak ‘has running start on us,’ ex-CDC director says | On Balance

Added: 2026-05-31

[00:00:00]Our next guest has called Ebola a perfect storm. CDC former director Dr. Tom Frieden helped bring the first Ebola outbreak under control in 2014. And I just bought his new book, The Formula for Better Health.

[00:00:15]It's available on Amazon if anyone would like. Doc, it's good to see you. The perfect storm, why?

[00:00:22]>> Um Leland, this outbreak is occurring in one of the most difficult places in the world to work. And that's why there are so many cases by the time we've started our response. Let me just give you some perspective. In 2014, we had the world's first Ebola epidemic. And that was when I headed the CDC and led the response from the CDC. At that point, when we started our response, there were between 40 and 50 cases.

[00:00:52]This time, when we're starting the response globally, there are between 400 and 500 cases. So, there's >> 10 times worse.

[00:01:01]>> 10 times more. So, we're way behind.

[00:01:03]This virus has a running start on us.

[00:01:06]And ultimately, it's going to be controlled in communities. The shots you just showed of communities having attacked the health center, we've seen this in multiple Ebola outbreaks cuz it's really frightening.

[00:01:20]>> Yeah.

[00:01:21]>> And there are long-held burial customs and families are told, "No, you can't take the the the your your loved one's uh uh dead body for this ritual because that might spread Ebola." And that causes a lot of anger. So, what we learned 10 years ago is that you have to work with communities. You have to >> May I I I get what's happening in Africa and I it is horrible and I I sort of am in awe of the American health workers who are over there and the missionaries um who are willing to risk their own lives literally to try to help these folks. But for all of us back here at home, what appears to be the scariest is how little is known about this strain. Is there any possibility that this strain is more transmissible than old Ebola, which we were sort of all protected from because of how difficult it was to get it?

[00:02:17]>> There's nothing that we've seen so far that suggests that this strain is any easier to catch, that it's more transmissible, that it's more infectious. What is clear is that this particular outbreak has gained a head of steam before we've been able to marshal a response. And that means it's going to be really hard to control, especially because it's in an area where there are armed groups fighting each other. It's, you know, Leland, in the best of circumstances, it's hard to stop Ebola because you have to get almost everything right. And it when people are shooting at you, it's virtually impossible.

[00:02:51]>> So, you've got the World Cup, you've got a number of teams from Africa coming.

[00:02:55]Even in 2014, when there was Ebola, and you said we caught it much earlier, there were cases of people in the United States who had contracted it because they they were able to get in before they were symptomatic. It takes a few days.

[00:03:11]Are you surprised we don't have people in America already with Ebola?

[00:03:16]>> No, not really. If you look at where this is spreading, it's in very remote areas of the Democratic Republic of Congo in the north of that country. Uh there's not a lot of tourism or traveling.

[00:03:28]>> where where all of a sudden do we go from "Hey, this is sad but manageable, even though that has a head start" to "This is scary for us here at home"?

[00:03:36]>> There are two things that scare me, Leland. What scares me about the situation in Africa is how long and hard this is going to be to control. Every minute of delay means we have more cases. It's going to go on for weeks or months more. It's going to be harder to stop. It's going to cause more disruption in travel and trade in economy and health systems and loss of lives. For this country, the risk of this outbreak is extraordinarily low.

[00:04:02]The risk that this is going to come here, it's not going to cause widespread transmission in the US under any circumstances. But what does worry me is that we have weaker defenses. We've let down our guard with cuts to the CDC and whatever you can say about the World Health Organization, there are lots of problems with that organization. There's no one else who can go into a place like northern DRC and bring health workers from multiple countries to help the local communities respond. So, we need to keep our defenses up for not only this one, but even more for the next one.

[00:04:35]>> All right, Doc, thank you. Good to see you as always. In better times, we'll have you back.

[00:04:39]>> Thank you for watching. Subscribe below and download our NewsNation app right now on your phone and you will get fact-based, unbiased news for all Americans.