--- title: Ebola: U.S. Health System Unprepared for Outbreak description: The United States health care system is vastly unprepared to handle Ebola should the virus spread, according to a new report. canonical: https://time.com/3546474/ebola-health-system-unprepared/ author: Alexandra Sifferlin article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-10-29T19:02:02.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-21T11:05:49.278Z article:section: Health og:title: Ebola: U.S. Health System Unprepared for Outbreak og:description: The United States health care system is vastly unprepared to handle Ebola should the virus spread, according to a new report. og:url: https://time.com/3546474/ebola-health-system-unprepared/ 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: Ebola: U.S. Health System Unprepared for Outbreak twitter:description: The United States health care system is vastly unprepared to handle Ebola should the virus spread, according to a new report. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # U.S. Health System Is Not Ready for Ebola, Report Says by [Alexandra Sifferlin](/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Oct 29, 2014 7:02 PM CUT by [Alexandra Sifferlin](/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Oct 29, 2014 7:02 PM CUT The United States health care system is vastly unprepared to handle Ebola should the virus spread, according to [a new report](http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US%5FEBOLA%5FUS%5FHEALTH%5FCARE%5FPREPAREDNESS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT "undefined"). An investigation of emergency preparedness by the Associated Press reveals the country is not ready to handle the disease even on a smaller scale, nor is it equipped to handle the spread of other infectious diseases that are airborne, like a new flu strain or SARS. “Even though there have been only a couple cases, many health systems are already overwhelmed,” Dr. Kenrad Nelson, a professor at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, told the AP. Experts say it’s unlikely that Ebola will spread widely in the U.S. [Read more at the Associated Press](http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US%5FEBOLA%5FUS%5FHEALTH%5FCARE%5FPREPAREDNESS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3546474/ebola-health-system-unprepared/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3546474/ebola-health-system-unprepared/"},"headline":"U.S. Health System Is Not Ready for Ebola, Report Says","datePublished":"2014-10-29T19:02:02.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T11:05:49.278Z","description":"\"Many health systems are already overwhelmed\"","url":"https://time.com/3546474/ebola-health-system-unprepared/","keywords":["ebola","Health Care","Ebola outbreak"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alexandra Sifferlin","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/"}],"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/ebola/","name":"ebola"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3546474/ebola-health-system-unprepared/","name":"U.S. Health System Is Not Ready for Ebola, Report Says"}}]}] ```