--- description: President Barack Obama said the U.S. must lead the international community in containing the spread of Ebola title: Obama: Ebola 'Could Be a Serious Danger' if U.S. Doesn't Act image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb173f3ab6fb93390/6986a246cd804d3050ccca55/obama-ebola.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Politics](/section/politics/) ## Politics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [White House](/tag/white-house/) ## White House Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Obama: Ebola 'Could Be a Serious Danger' if U.S. Doesn't Act by [Zeke Miller](/author/zeke-j-miller/) ## Zeke Miller Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Sep 7, 2014 1:40 PM CUT  U.S. President Barack Obama speaks during a press conference on day two of the 2014 NATO Summit at the Celtic Manor Resort in Newport, Wales, on September 5, 2014. U.S. President Barack Obama speaks during a press conference on day two of the 2014 NATO Summit at the Celtic Manor Resort in Newport, Wales, on September 5, 2014.Anadolu Agency—Getty Images by [Zeke Miller](/author/zeke-j-miller/) ## Zeke Miller Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Sep 7, 2014 1:40 PM CUT President Barack Obama said the U.S. must lead the international community in containing the spread of Ebola in Africa, warning there could be a long-term threat to the homeland if the country doesn’t act. “Americans shouldn’t be concerned about the prospects of contagion here in the United States short term, because it’s not an airborne disease,” Obama said in an interview airing Sunday with NBC’s _Meet the Press_. But he warned that the U.S. must make the disease a priority. “If we don’t make that effort now, and this spreads not just through Africa but other parts of the world, there’s the prospect then that the virus mutates,” he said. “It becomes more easily transmittable. And then it could be a serious danger to the United States.” Obama said U.S. troops would likely be needed to help establish isolation units and to protect aid workers. “If we do that it will still be months before it is controllable for much of Africa, but it shouldn’t hit our shores,” he said. “What I’ve said, and I said this two months ago to our national-security team, is we have to make this a national-security priority,” Obama added. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3291282/obama-ebola/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3291282/obama-ebola/"},"headline":"Obama: Ebola 'Could Be a Serious Danger' if U.S. Doesn't Act","datePublished":"2014-09-07T13:40:17.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T10:02:46.673Z","description":"\"We have to make this a national-security priority\"","url":"https://time.com/3291282/obama-ebola/","keywords":["White House"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb173f3ab6fb93390/6986a246cd804d3050ccca55/obama-ebola.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Zeke Miller","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/zeke-j-miller/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb173f3ab6fb93390/6986a246cd804d3050ccca55/obama-ebola.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"US President Barack Obama holds press conference in Newport","caption":"US President Barack Obama holds press conference in Newport","creditText":"Anadolu Agency—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/white-house/","name":"White House"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3291282/obama-ebola/","name":"Obama: Ebola 'Could Be a Serious Danger' if U.S. Doesn't Act"}}]}] ```