Is a U.S. Ebola outbreak on the way? CDC ramps up fight with 35 new treatment centers

Around the nation, 35 hospitals have been designated as Ebola treatment centers by U.S. health officials, and more are expected to be named in the next few weeks.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - If the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention designates a hospital as an Ebola treatment center, it means that hospital is capable of treating patients that are infected by Ebola with minimal risk to staff.

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So far the list put out by the CDC includes some hospitals that have already treated Ebola patients, and the likes of Emory University Hospital in Atlanta, John Hopkins in Baltimore, Mayo Clinic Hospital in Minnesota, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and New York-Presbyterian.

The CDC has said that of all those who are entering the United States from Ebola hotspots in West Africa, more than 80% live within 200 miles of these centers.

The CDC's director, Tom Frieden, said that these measures are part of an ongoing effort by the U.S. to monitor the situation in West Africa and make sure that any future cases in the U.S. do not spread and become epidemic.

"As long as Ebola is spreading in West Africa, we must prepare for the possibility of additional cases in the United States."

Do be designated a treatment center, each hospital must be assessed by a CDC Rapid Ebola Preparedness team.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has reported that more than 6,000 people have died in the three West African nations of Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea. There have been 17,000 cases of the disease, and actions by the WHO and the U.N. have failed to limit or stop the spread of Ebola.

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