CHICAGO: The risk that a traveler infected with Ebola could arrive in the United States during the 2026 World Cup tournament that kicked off last week is low but not zero, and if that happens, US hospitals are ready to respond, US infectious disease experts say.
It wasn’t always so.
During the 2014 West African Ebola outbreak, a Liberian man, Thomas Eric Duncan, arrived in a Dallas hospital with Ebola symptoms and was turned away before being admitted.
Two nurses were infected but survived.
That led to $260 million in US funding for Ebola preparedness training and response capabilities and 13 specialized treatment centers — all intended to help hospitals identify, isolate and safely care for suspected Ebola patients.
