DOVER, Del. (AP) - Delaware officials are talking about steps they are taking in response to the public health threat posed by the Ebola virus.
Gov. Jack Markell planned to join Health and Social Services Secretary Rita Landgraf and public health director Dr. Karyl Rattay on Wednesday for a briefing on Delaware's efforts in response to the Ebola outbreak.
The briefing is being held in conjunction with the third annual Public Health Preparedness Symposium hosted by the Division of Public Health.
Officials say that while there are no known cases of Ebola in Delaware and risk of an outbreak is low, the state is taking steps to prepare for possible impact.
Low Risk
Meanwhile, University of Delaware faculty tried to calm public concerns about the Ebola outbreak saying that the chances of contracting the disease are slim.
Michelle Parent, an associate professor and interim chair of medical lab sciences, told a gathering in Newark yesterday that it was important that the public understand the real risks and that the medical system can handle the outbreak.
The Wilmington News Journal reports that the risk of contracting the disease is 1 in 13.3 million if there are 12 cases imported from other countries.
Even in Monrovia, Liberia where the outbreak is the severest the chance is 1 in 5-thousand.
The spread of the disease in such countries is due in part to the poor healthcare infrastructure even though the virus itself is easy to kill and is only transmitted through direct bodily fluids.
