--- title: Ebola: Major Outbreak in the U.S. or Europe 'Unlikely' Says WHO description: The statement comes as the U.S. moves quickly to contain the disease after the reporting of a third case canonical: https://time.com/3512623/major-ebola-outbreak-us-europe-unlikely-who-world-health-organization-disease/ author: Rishi Iyengar article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-10-16T10:38:19.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T05:07:23.285Z article:section: Health og:title: WHO: Ebola Spread in West 'Unlikely' og:description: The statement comes as the U.S. moves quickly to contain the disease after the reporting of a third case. og:url: https://time.com/3512623/major-ebola-outbreak-us-europe-unlikely-who-world-health-organization-disease/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: WHO: Ebola Spread in West 'Unlikely' twitter:description: The statement comes as the U.S. moves quickly to contain the disease after the reporting of a third case. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # A Major Ebola Outbreak in the U.S. or Europe Is Unlikely, Says WHO ## Video: Fear and Ignorance Spread Ebola [Watch (HLS stream): Fear and Ignorance Spread Ebola](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/KlA2XSgt.m3u8) (1:52)  _Published 2014-08-26. While the Ebola virus remains contained to West Africa, deadly fear and ignorance about the illness have spread worldwide._ by [Rishi Iyengar](/author/rishi-iyengar/) ## Rishi Iyengar Oct 16, 2014 10:38 AM CUT by [Rishi Iyengar](/author/rishi-iyengar/) ## Rishi Iyengar Oct 16, 2014 10:38 AM CUT The World Health Organization (WHO) [has said](http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-29640470 "undefined") a widespread outbreak of the Ebola virus, which has killed thousands in the West African countries of Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia, will probably not be replicated in the U.S. or Europe thanks to the advanced health care systems in the West. Christopher Dye, the director of strategy for the WHO, told the BBC that the potential spread of Ebola in the West was a matter “for very serious concern,” but added that an epidemic was improbable. ### See The Tobacco Leaves That Could Cure Ebola  Tobacco plants are grown for six weeks in the Medicago greenhouse in Quebec City so their leaves are large enough to serve as a factory for making antibodies. The plants are not modified or genetically altered in any way during this time. Mathieu Belanger—Reuters  Researchers at Icon Genetics in Germany prepare the DNA coding for antibodies that can neutralize Ebola. These genes are inserted into a soil bacterium that easily infects the tobacco plant cells. Once in the cells, the gene is treated like any other plant gene and the plant starts churning out the antibodies. Sean Gallup—Getty Images  To infect the leaves with the antibody-containing bacteria, the plants are submerged in a water solution of the loaded bacteria. Plant cells have plenty of empty spaces filled with air, so a vacuum removes the air and the water, along with the bacteria and antibody genes, flow in. Mathieu Belanger—Reuters  The leaf at the bottom has not been treated. The leaf on top is now an antibody-making factory. The plant's normal machinery starts making the antibody as if it is a plant protein. Mathieu Belanger—Reuters  Researchers at Icon Genetics grind the leaves down to filter out the antibodies. Sean Gallup—Getty Images  Ultraviolet light reveals the clusters of cells that are busy making antibodies. One kg of leaves produces about 5g of antibodies, which is about a third of the dose required to treat an Ebola patient. Sean Gallup—Getty Images “We’re confident that in North America and Western Europe, where health systems are very strong, that we’re unlikely to see a major outbreak in any of those places,” Dye said. The U.S., meanwhile, is dealing with its [third](http://time.com/3510341/ebola-airplane/ "undefined") Ebola case as Amber Vinson, a nurse who treated the country’s first patient who died earlier this month, was diagnosed with the disease. It was revealed on Wednesday that Vinson was cleared to get on a plane by a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention official just a few days prior, despite having a mild temperature. Officials are attempting to track down and monitor her 131 fellow passengers. U.S. President Barack Obama, who canceled two consecutive campaign events in order to take firmer action on Ebola, echoed the WHO view in a [statement](http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2014/10/15/president-obama-provides-update-our-response-ebola-us "undefined"). “The dangers of a serious outbreak are extraordinarily low,” he said, “but we are taking this very seriously at the highest levels of government.” \[[_BBC_](http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-29640470 "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3512623/major-ebola-outbreak-us-europe-unlikely-who-world-health-organization-disease/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3512623/major-ebola-outbreak-us-europe-unlikely-who-world-health-organization-disease/"},"headline":"A Major Ebola Outbreak in the U.S. or Europe Is Unlikely, Says WHO","datePublished":"2014-10-16T10:38:19.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:07:23.285Z","description":"The statement comes as the U.S. moves quickly to contain the disease after the reporting of a third case","url":"https://time.com/3512623/major-ebola-outbreak-us-europe-unlikely-who-world-health-organization-disease/","keywords":["Disease","Barack Obama","CDC","health","us","WHO","ebola","outbreak"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Rishi Iyengar","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/rishi-iyengar/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[],"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/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/disease/","name":"Disease"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3512623/major-ebola-outbreak-us-europe-unlikely-who-world-health-organization-disease/","name":"A Major Ebola Outbreak in the U.S. or Europe Is Unlikely, Says WHO"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Fear and Ignorance Spread Ebola","description":"While the Ebola virus remains contained to West Africa, deadly fear and ignorance about the illness have spread worldwide.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/KlA2XSgt/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2014-08-26T14:04:40.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/KlA2XSgt.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3512623/major-ebola-outbreak-us-europe-unlikely-who-world-health-organization-disease/","duration":"PT1M52S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3512623/major-ebola-outbreak-us-europe-unlikely-who-world-health-organization-disease/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```