1. What precautions did the Dallas nurse who contracted Ebola take?

2. What does CDC director Dr. Thomas Frieden say about how the infection occurred?

3. a) What additional steps is the CDC considering telling health care workers to take?
b) Is there any reason why they shouldn’t be doing this already, or at all? Explain your answer.

4. What did the CDC “disease detectives” who interviewed the nurse, Nina Pham, discover about the steps she took before/after treating the Ebola patient who died?

5. What possible ways might Ms. Pham have become infected, according to CDC director Dr. Tom Frieden?

6. CDC director Dr. Tom Frieden said, “When you have potentially soiled or contaminated gloves or masks or other things, to remove those without any risk of any contaminated material…touching you and being then on your clothes or face or skin…is not easy to do right.” If he knows this to be true, does the CDC have any responsibility to better train health care workers? And what, if anything, should he have done when it was announced that Thomas Duncan was admitted to the Texas hospital with Ebola?

7. The CDC has an $11 BILLION annual budget. Consider the following: Do you think the agency is doing all they can to prevent further outbreak? Should they be monitoring treatment of the few known Ebola patients in the U.S., or leave it up to the hospitals? Is it the role of this government to take a “hands-on” approach to ensure proper protocol? Should CDC director Dr. Frieden establish a better system for the treatment of Ebola?  Explain your answers.

CHALLENGE QUESTION:
The acronym CDC stands for Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Do some research to find out what this $11 billion government agency is doing to prevent the spread of Ebola in the United States.  Explain what methods of prevention you have found.  Do you feel the CDC is doing enough to prevent the spread of Ebola in the U.S.?