US Rep. Ron Barber Will Host Roundtable on Ebola with Top CDC Leader and Southern Arizona Health and Elected Officials

Press Release

U.S. Rep. Ron Barber will host a roundtable discussion Monday on preventing the spread of Ebola, with a top official from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention joining local health care leaders and elected officials to ensure all protocols are understood and followed.

"My first priority is to keep Arizonans safe. Ebola represents a serious but preventable threat to public health and I want to make sure our health care providers and first responders have the most up-to-date information on how to protect themselves and the people of Southern Arizona," Barber said today. "To accomplish that, I am calling together a wide variety of leaders in our community to ensure we are communicating and proactively working together on this critical public health issue."

Taking part in the meeting will be Dr. John Brooks, medical care task force lead on the emergency Ebola response team for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Barber also has invited elected officials from throughout Southern Arizona, state and local health experts, hospital representatives and others to attend the Monday afternoon session entitled "Ensuring Southern Arizona is Prepared."

The roundtable continues Barber's aggressive work to keep Americans safe from the virus. Barber is a member of the Committee on Homeland Security and ranking member of the Oversight and Management Efficiency Subcommittee.

Earlier this week, Barber wrote to Secretary of State John Kerry; Dr. Thomas Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; and Dr. Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health, seeking answers on behalf of the people he represents in Southern Arizona.

Barber told Kerry that because Ebola has a lengthy incubation period and there is no vaccine or cure, "it would make sense to increase our screenings and vigilance in West Africa, where the outbreak is currently found."

Barber called for screenings to be conducted when people in the affected countries apply for a visa to travel to the United States.

In his letter to Drs. Frieden and Collins, Barber asked for a report on "research that is currently being conducted to develop new Ebola detection methods, including those that might be used on pre-symptomatic patients."

Last week, Barber participated in a congressional field hearing of the House Committee on Homeland Security held in Dallas. At that hearing, Barber closely questioned John P. Wagner, acting assistant commissioner in the CBP Office of Field Operations, about what is being done to prevent people carrying the Ebola virus from traveling to the United States.

Barber also asked a top official from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention if there is a possibility of developing a test to detect Ebola in an individual at an earlier stage of infection.

On Sept. 17, Barber joined his Republican and Democratic colleagues to approve an additional $88 million in funding for the U.S. to fight the Ebola outbreak in West Africa.

Monday's roundtable is by invitation only. Accredited members of the media are invited.

Source