65% of Americans fear Ebola spread

Nearly two-thirds of Americans are worried about the spread of the Ebola epidemic across the United States, a new poll shows.

According to the results published on Tuesday, 65 percent of the respondents voiced concerns over the epidemic, which has so far killed one person inside the US, the Washington Post reported.

The number of those who believed Washington was not doing enough to fight the spread was half of the ones who said the US was doing all it could against the outbreak.

“The poll shows how fear of the deadly disease has taken root here,” the report said, adding “That level of worry is on par with how Americans felt about catching bird flu in 2006 and higher than the level of concern expressed over severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, in 2003.”

 Forty-three percent of the Americans said they disapprove of how US President Barack Obama has been handling the epidemic with another 41 expressing support.

The poll, which was conducted via phone from Thursday to Sunday among a random sample of 1,006 adults, had an overall margin of sampling error standing at 3.5 percent.

Two Ebola cases have so far been diagnosed both in Texas, one of which has led to the death of 42-year-old Thomas Eric Duncan.

Nina Pham, a nurse at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas, has also been infected with the virus and is currently being monitored.

There is currently no known cure for Ebola, which is a form of hemorrhagic fever with diarrhea, vomiting and bleeding as its symptoms.

The epidemic as already killed 4,447 people, with the large majority of victims in West Africa, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

NT/GJH