Ebola more 'difficult to contract' than other viruses, doctor says | NewsNation Prime

Added: 2026-06-01

[00:00:00]more. We are joined by Dr. Josh McConi, a US Air Force critical care air transport physician who previously worked with the US State Department as a physician in central Africa. Dr. Makanki, it's good to see you again.

[00:00:11]Thank you for being here >> as always. Thank you.

[00:00:14]>> We are tracking the number of cases. It it seems staggering the scope here. The WHO says that cases have surpassed 1,000. At least 250 people believe dead.

[00:00:24]Tell us about the Bundabukio strain here. What is making this outbreak so particularly pernitious?

[00:00:31]>> Well, I'll tell you as a as a critical care transport physician and emergency doctor, these are the types of things that keep you up at night. Those are those questions you always ask is travel history. So, when you put together those types of symptoms with fevers, bodyaches, regular flu symptoms tied in with any exposure coming from Africa gets you very nervous. And with this particular strain, it's not doesn't have the high mortality rate that you'll see with some other strains like the Zire strain can be as high as 90%. This one is still extremely high at 30 to 40%.

[00:01:03]But the important thing for people to to remember is this is not as contagious.

[00:01:08]This is not like a respiratory virus.

[00:01:10]This is not like CO. It's not spread through respiratory droplets. It's close contact. So healthcare workers that are dealing with bloody bandages or sexual contact or body fluids, it is more difficult to contract this.

[00:01:23]>> Yeah. And we have seen some of the images of the PPE that just does not seem adequate on the ground. There are some people who are dealing with bodies and severely sick people just in, you know, regular surgical masks and a couple of gloves instead of that full PPE that you would want to see. I want to ask about our response because the Trump administration in response to this deadly outbreak has really turned inward. They're really putting much of the focus on keeping Ebola out of the US rather than helping to fight the outbreak abroad. This move has come under some criticism by some infectious disease experts right now. Do you think that the US government is doing enough to help fight the outbreak in the Congo and Uganda?

[00:02:02]>> Well, the first step is certainly prevention. You don't want it in the country. There was another outbreak in 2014 when I was a critical care transport physician and they asked for volunteers to escort patients. I had just had newborn babies at the time. My wife was not keen on me treating Ebola patients. But I think that keeping it out of the country and treating it there in Africa is a good decision. Right now there the incubation period can be as high as 21 days. So having an exposure it may be 2 to 3 weeks before you even start exhibiting symptoms. And if they're already in the US, that's very difficult. So preventing it from coming to the US, I know the State Department Secretary Rubio has been very strong with those statements, but I think that's a good decision.

[00:02:46]>> Is the United States prepared to handle an Ebola outbreak if cases were to spread here at home?

[00:02:52]>> Yeah, they are. We have a infectious disease, a specialized unit there at the University of Nebraska, where I went to medical school that has specific infectious disease. Uh that's where they took people that were exposed to haunt virus on the cruise ships as well. Very advanced, very well contained and you know we certainly have some experimental treatments with some monoconal antibodies as well but right now prevention is much better and it's really just symptomatic treatment.

[00:03:19]>> This Ebola outbreak is coming to a head as North America is preparing to host teams and fans from 48 different countries for the World Cup, including the team from the Congo. Are the current travel restrictions enough to keep the US free from Ebola as we're preparing to host people from all over the world?

[00:03:36]>> Well, I'm here right now in Philadelphia at FEMA headquarters, and that was a big topic of discussion for World Cup preparations.

[00:03:44]It certainly makes everyone a bit nervous, but we do have a good plan in place. Screening and prevention is is really key. if that were to reach the United States and have that many foreign travelers, there certainly is potential for some disaster, but right now things are under control. You don't really have any exposure risks in the United States, so we don't want to induce any panic.

[00:04:05]>> Yeah, it it seems like your answers are very measured and I appreciate that.

[00:04:09]Tonight, at the beginning, you mentioned that this is what keeps you up at night.

[00:04:12]We're almost out of time. In fact, we are. But tell me very quickly, why does this keep you up at night?

[00:04:18]Well, just the fear if you were to miss a patient and you don't get a good travel history and recognize these are things that you see every day. I see 20, 30 patients that have cough, colds, bodyaches, flu symptoms. If you don't get a good history with that travel history and pin that down very quickly and something like that spreads, my goodness, that would be devastating.

[00:04:37]>> All right, Dr. McConi, always appreciate seeing you. Thank you so much for your time.

[00:04:40]>> Thank you. Thank you for watching.

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