--- title: CDC Chief Urges U.S. Hospitals to "Think Ebola" description: The CDC director said hospitals across the United States need to increasingly "think Ebola" while the outbreak in West Africa is ongoing canonical: https://time.com/3502528/cdc-ebola-health-hospitals/ author: Alexandra Sifferlin article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-10-13T17:23:43.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T08:00:30.043Z article:section: Health og:title: CDC Chief Urges U.S. Hospitals to "Think Ebola" og:description: While the outbreak in West Africa is ongoing og:url: https://time.com/3502528/cdc-ebola-health-hospitals/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6c308a82e208762d/69876069f887dca9d7e8775c/tom-frieden-cdc-ebola.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3896 og:image:height: 2192 og:image:alt: Tom Frieden og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: CDC Chief Urges U.S. Hospitals to "Think Ebola" twitter:description: While the outbreak in West Africa is ongoing twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6c308a82e208762d/69876069f887dca9d7e8775c/tom-frieden-cdc-ebola.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # CDC Chief Urges U.S. Hospitals to 'Think Ebola' > Sponsored content. 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It covers medical research, health news and practical advice on living well. #### Where can I get reliable health news by email? Health Matters is TIME's daily health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free daily newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. ## Video: Second US Ebola Case [Watch (HLS stream): Second US Ebola Case](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/Qj7qa6OI.m3u8) (1:19)  _Published 2014-10-13. Second US Ebola Case_ by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Oct 13, 2014 5:23 PM UTC  Dr. Tom Frieden the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention speaks at a news conference on Oct. 12, 2014, in Atlanta. Dr. Tom Frieden the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention speaks at a news conference on Oct. 12, 2014, in Atlanta. John Amis—AP by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Oct 13, 2014 5:23 PM UTC Hospitals across the United States need to increasingly “think Ebola” while the outbreak in West Africa is ongoing, a top health official said Monday, one day after a second diagnosis in the U.S. was confirmed. **(**[**PHOTOS: See How A Photographer Is Covering Ebola’s Deadly Spread**](http://lightbox.time.com/2014/10/02/ebola-virus-liberia-daniel-berehulak-nyt/#1)**)** “Stopping Ebola is hard, but we are working together to make it easier,” Tom Frieden, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said during a news conference. “Even a single infection is unacceptable.” Frieden said the health agency has doubled down in Dallas with an even larger team on the ground, helping to track down all health care workers who cared for the first Ebola patient and reiterating the importance of meticulousness in processes like getting in and out of personal protective equipment. Thomas Eric Duncan, who arrived from Liberia on Sept. 20, died last week. A nurse who treated him, [identified](http://www.wfaa.com/story/news/local/tarrant-county/2014/10/13/ebola-tcu-christian-student-dallas-nurse/17192239/) as Nina Pham, 26, was [confirmed](http://time.com/3499896/ebola-texas-health-worker-positive/) Sunday to have Ebola. Frieden insisted his words were misunderstood on Sunday, when he said there was a “breach in protocol,” and that he wasn’t pointing fingers. “People on the frontlines are protecting us. The enemy here is Ebola, not a person, not a hospital,” he said. “We need to all take responsibility for improving the safety on the front lines. I feel awful a health care worker was infected.” The [CDC told TIME](http://time.com/3500231/5-ways-u-s-hospitals-need-to-get-ready-for-ebola/) that it will continue over the next days and weeks to press importance of its recommendations for hospitals to be prepared for Ebola, and maintain its offering of webinars and trainings for health workers as well as support for hospitals. One new recommendation is that hospitals have a lead person in charge of making sure procedures are followed carefully. _Read next:_ [_5 Ways U.S. Hospitals Need to Get Ready For Ebola_](http://time.com/3500231/5-ways-u-s-hospitals-need-to-get-ready-for-ebola/?xid=time%5Freadnext) ## Transcript We don't know what occurred, but at some point there was a breach in protocol. The CDC says that breach of protocol caused the first case of Ebola contracted in the U. S. A nurse at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital has tested positive for the disease. She treated Thomas Duncan. The Liberian man who flew to Dallas fell ill and died from Ebola on Wednesday. This individual was following full CDC precautions, which are bury and [ INAUDIBLE ]. So gown, glove, mask and shield. But we're confident that the precautions we have in place right now are protecting our healthcare workers. [ NOISE ] We're seeing that. Caregivers who are not being adequately trained, are being blamed and say, we're hearing that they have not followed proper protocol, when we have been asking our hospitals throughout the country to provide us with training. The World health Organization putting the current death toll at more than 4000. 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