Transcripts For FBC The Willis Report 20140930

Navigate . Well talk about all of that. Joining me, paul howard, scholar at man hat the hat tan institute. This is exposing a dirty little secret in the medical industry. Tell us about that secret. This is a open secret because in order to tell doctors about new products they have to get in to see them. Only time they can see the doctor is during lunch when they dont have patients. They buy them pizza and give them samples. Gerri were not talking about pizza here, right. Were talking about everything. Some doctors opinion leaders in the industry, they are paid consulting fees to talk about new products, go on lectures to do those kind of things. They get a lot of payments for that. A small number of doctors get very significant number of payments. Vast majority of doctors might get reprint or a piece of pizza. Those payments were north of 24 billion. So it aint nothing. It is pretty thorough going. If you look at the number of Drug Companies offering this, pfizer, astrazeneca, johnson johnson, glaxosmithkline, merck. The worry here, paul, i think you understand this as well as anybody if a drug company is paying an individual physician money, theyre going to push their drug. Right. The thing to understand is, a lot of these payments can be misread, im paying for Clinical Trial if the doctors name goes there. All that money isnt going to them. It is going to support the Clinical Trial. There is real concern if the person has financial interest in drug company or device company, they own stock, that is a big problem. Always ask your doctor, why am i getting this treatment . What are the risk and benefits for me as individual and really trying to informed consumer to avoid any of these concerns. Gerri so the cms is launching a website, this is the good news that will allow to you check out your own doctor and find out if in fact theyre taking paints from pharmaceutical companies. How well is this going to go in. It will be healthcare. Gov . I was on the website earlier today. I was spoking around on it. It doesnt seem that hard to navigate. Gerri oh, come on. You got to be kidding me so we went on this afternoon. I went on with a producer. Maybe it is just, im just a regular person, trying to find out the information the government has promised me. They will expose my doctor for taking payments. I want to see. That i was looking everywhere for a place to plug your name in. You cant. It is databases. The whole website is designed to help the industry, not individuals. If there consumer page on that website i could not find it. I want to tell you what they told our producer who called the help desk, the help desk for this website. She said, im new to this and i dont understand it. Can you help me. And help desk guy, said im new to this. Im not sure i understand it either. We never got any training. We learned we were going to be helping on this today. It was supposed to be another group of people. Okay, to me, that feels like healthcare. Gov all over again. I guess, this is just standard. Standard operating procedure for the government right now. Look, i think people who are familiar with databases, i went on there, playing around wit, saw names. But for average consumer this will be more confusion. Information is not presented in context. See a number next to the doctor, can you understand what that means, what impact it might have on treatment . You could say im a cancer patient. I want my physician to work with the industry and know what all the latest treatments are. I got to tell you. Im astonished, here again another promise from the administration that they will put a website out there that helps us. I will be darned if i figure out how the stupid thing works. They are only working on four years. It is actually part of obamacare. Gerri it absolutely is. Paul, thanks for coming in. Thank you. Gerri from turmoil and obamacare to turmoil in the mutual fund industry. The fallout from pimco cofounder bill grosss departure, it is only growing. Fund Research Firm morningstar is stripping pimcos total return bond fund of its gold rating of the turmoil might bleed into other markets. The wall street journal is reporting that federal regulators are worried pimcos money drain might cause broader instability in the markets. Here to weigh in, michael herbs of morningstar and jim of retirement resource who is is advising his clients to ditch pimcos total return fund. Welcome to you both. Great to have you here. We appreciate you being on the show. I will start with michael. You downgraded the fund. Now, keep in mind, this is the worlds biggest bond fund. Very important to many, many people. Why did you do it . Essentially the browns rating that weve assigned to the fund reflects our confidence in the managers that stepped into bill grosss role. Scott mather and mark kiesel are investors in their own right and investors we have known a great deal for last 10 years. Why the downgrade you ask . Essentially uncertainty around the fund from here. Everybody is obviously watching the flow situation. Another aspect that were watching closely how well these individual Work Together in their new roles. And third level, that decreases our confidence in the overall offering for investors is actually on the fund, the fund board side where weve seen multiple independent trustees fall off two critical fund boards for pimco fund. Gerri all interesting stuff. We all had our ice on the redemptions. Wall street journal reporting that some 10 billion has been yanked from pimco. Other is are saying it could be hundreds of billions come next. Jim, to you, youre advising your clients to leave pimco total return. Why . And has pimco tried to convince you otherwise . Yes, gerri. Were moving out of this fund because of were in a somewhat unique position maybe compared with individual investors. We oversee something on the order of 600 million of peoples life savings, that is thousands of individuals in 401 k plans that we advise. So that we see the world through a little bit more of a conservative lens. We have to make prudent decisions and, some of the factors that michael just mentioned, a whole series of events over the last year, has impinged upon our confidence and in overall tipped the balance to the point where we believe that those individual might be better served by a different fund with perhaps some more conservative mandate and more consistent management. Gerri lots of changes at pimco as weve seen. Not only did Michael Gross leave or bill gross leave, other people are taking top positions there including one who won morningstars bond fund manager of the year. So back to you, michael. One of my big concerns, and you mentioned it as a big reason for your downgrade, this idea of redemptions. And my question is, how does that reverberate back to individual investors . If im holding this fund, pimco total return fund, how do i get hurt by Institutional Investors and others dumping the fund . Id like to start by saying that in our analysis the fund is actually very wellsituated to weather outflows in the near term. There are many sources of liquidity in the portfolio that would help the managers adjust. Where the risks to investors come in if we see outflows either pick up or continue for a long period of time. In theory that could make it more difficult for the Portfolio Managers to execute their strategies. That would be run risk to investors in the fund. A second potential risk to investors in the fund, and this is a lot more difficult to handicap, is anecdotally, weve gotten evidence that there are other parties on wall street that are taking positions on the other side of positions held by pimco total return. In theory this could affect the pricing of some of the securities that pimco holds in theory it could force pimco to sell securities at prices lower than it would like to. I say on the second count, that second situation is much more difficult situation to handicap at this point. Those are two areas well watch very closely going forward. Gerri i want to mention a couple of numbers here to put this all in context because there are a lot of worries about this fund having to make investors whole who decide to leave and redeem their fund. The trading, in bonds, 500 billion a day, in the Corporate Bond market. 100 billion a day. These are big markets. They are liquid markets. They can withstand a lot. I think theres, a lot of misinformation out there and i worry that people dont really understand the size of these markets were talking about. Jim, before you go, well you revisit this decision anytime soon . Well, probably no time soon because the new Management Team is very talented and were optimistic that they will do a good job but we would need a fairly lengthy period of actual results before we would consider putting money back in. Okay. Jim and michael, thank you so much for being on the show tonight. Well continue to follow this story for some time i think. It will be going on for a while. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. And still ahead well have more on the breaking news we told you about the at top of the hour. The very first case of ebola in the United States. That patient at dallas hospital. Youre looking at dallas right there. That is a live shot of the hospital. Well go live to atlanta for a News Conference from centers for Disease Control. Stay with fbn for that. 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And dig some trader more. Search. Because, for me, the challenge of the search. Is almost as exciting as the thrill of the find. announcer at scottrade, we share your passion for trading. Thats why we rebuilt scottrade elite from the ground up including a proprietary momentum indicator that makes researching sectors and Industries Even easier. Because at scottrade, our passion is to power yours. Gerri updating you on breaking news. Were waiting a for a News Conference from the centers for Disease Control in atlanta and were being told that the First American case of ebola has been diagnosed. We cover all the angles with Fox News Team doctor, david samadi. You heard the news. First case of ebola, diagnosed in the usa, actually in dallas. What do you have to say to that . What is your reaction . I think it is concerning but not a huge surprise. We actually have spoken about this. The numbers are slowly on the rise in africa. What is going on in, take as few days for the symptoms to kick in after youre contaminated about i ebola virus. So if youre a passenger contaminated in nigeria and one of those areas and get on a plane to come to the u. S. , it could certainly bring this virus over here and, were probably will see a few more of these cases in the u. S. What i want people to know is, you know, in the Health Care System in this country, were able to isolate patients. That is the key word. By isolating the patients, you can control the disease and there is no need to really panic. This is not an airborne disease. You dont transmit it through cough or sneezing. It is through fluids, so the considers are more than able taking care of this patient and well be in control. Gerri were going to be in control. I hope you will be right on that. People are very concerned about this you said something interesting. It take as while for this disease to incubate and if youre coming from africa where youre exposed you might get on the plane and never know. In the web reporting on this receipt now from tv affiliates in texas were hearing that is exactly what happened. That this person was in africa, came back to the u. S. And then was diagnosed. Does there need to be some kind of a protocal, some kind of a change for people who are traveling in that direction . The protocol that has come down the pipeline from cdc and who is that the emergency room and the hospitals need to look for these kinds of signs and symptoms of the we need to basically be aware, anybody could be exposed to this. Look for those symptoms. If you see any sign of it, to isolate those patients until at least three weeks when we would be in the free zone. The issue is that, you know, the head of cdc announced that there could be up to 1. 4 million of these patients in africa. We spoke about it this sunday. I think those numbers are a little bit exaggerated and out of control. Think were going to see right now about 8,000 cases that have been diagnosed. 3,000 patients have died from this. Were going to see somewhere in the range of 20 to 24,000, 25,000 in the next few months. So im kind of obviously concerned about this that we have it in the u. S. But not to panic and hospitals are more than capable of doing this. Unfortunately because the global travel, were all become one big pietri dish if you can call it and were all exposed to this. Should there be more testing down in africa before they let people go . I dont think we have enough resources to do this on a good note, let me say, receipt now there is about a billion dollar investment from u. S. Directly over there. Were releasing about 3,000 troops and there are also about 20 centers, Ebola Treatment Centers will go up. That is part of the way to control the disease there so we can protect our people here in the u. S. Gerri dr. Samadi, thanks for your team tonight. Thank you very much. Gerri now well be covering a Live Press Conference at 5 30 with the cdc where they will have more details. This is only minutes away now. So stay tuned because we will have that press Conference Live just minutes away. Meantime, the grocery Chain Supervalu says it beefed up security at its stores after malware was discovered at checkout computers. The breach affected albertsons customers. Just in the latest of a series of cases where retailers were hack and information stolen. Biggest being home depot and target. I spoke with greg bound di, the ceo of the biggest Credit Reporting bureaus,. Peer i dont know are about. Experion and the growing problem and how you can protect yourself. On the willis report weve been covering high Speed Computers that crunch terabytes of data looking what is really going on. Craig, you say there is big promise to consume thats will improve their lives. How. Gerri, thanks very much for having me today and great to get a chance to talk about this topic. Big data will make an enormous difference to everybodys lives. Let me give you couple easy examples n Johns Hopkins University Hospital theyre studying Cancer Treatment to improve effectiveness of on new patients if i talk about my own business, experion were working to help millions of people in the u. S. Who live cash only world, getting access to credit. That is people here in the u. S. Gerri but the big question for at love consumers out there, how you build credit and of course Companies Like yours are very important to that effort. But across the board, whether youre talking about your business or other big data companies, i think accuracy is really important and what we see over and over again, with Credit Reporting is that accuracy, i dont know if you say it is not a priority but there are issues, there are problems. For example, as you well know, the federal trade Commission Just a year ago said that one in five consumers have errors on at least one of their three credit scores, Credit Reports that is. And 5 have errors that means it will cost them more to borrow money. Maybe they wont get that loan. So, yes, your efforts to help folks who are renting understood but so many people have frustrations with the accuracy of the reports. What do you say to that . It is really important we start with getting to the bottom of the facts. What the ftc report actually says that 98 of the Credit Reports are materially accurate. That means only gerri im reading directly from their results. These are not fabricated numbers. I wasnt saying there was fabricated numbers. I say you have to get underneath what the analysis is telling you. Telling thaw 98 of Credit Reports are materially accurate. Only 2 have problem with them. Now that not good enough. We continue to invest in the organization to improve that but 9 of Credit Reports are materially accurate. Gerri an example of the broader population, i pulled all three of my Credit Reports last night. All three had mistakes. Some didnt matter probably ultimately but some did much so im in that category of people, am i a part of the 2 . Are you telling me that i am not the 98 of people out there . Well it is great that you raised that point because it allow me to talk about what i hope people can do to try to improve the accuracy of ongoing Credit Reports. You can go online once a year and check your Credit Report for free. You can check to make sure the information held there is accurate about you. Gerri how do you handle privacy issue . A lot of people are concerned, worried about all of this collection of this data. We had a breach of 65 million americans with their credit just this year. By that i mean, credit cards, not Credit Reports. So, it seems to me there is a piling on of concern about privacy in this country. What do you say to that . I say it is really important for all of us in this country take active steps to make sure were securing our digital identities. We do do things in our lives online. We buy things online. We go to shops. People steal our information on line. There are steps we can take, i will give you two easy ones today, that will improve the safety of identities. Change your passwords regularly. Sound trite and easy thing to say. It makes a difference. Use monitoring of your Credit Report to find out when things are happening to your online profile or your Credit Profile to make sure that they really are true. And if you need to, youre able to take action to resolve the issues. Gerri of course with these large breaches the benefit would have been in all if all three Credit Reporting agencies made those reports available for free. Right now only get it free once a year. But breaches happened over and over again. Target, home depot. Is the company willing at this point to say, you know when there are millions and millions of people in america having breaches well put them out there . You get a look at this. What we do do offer already the ability to see your Credit Report for free. Much more importantly we provide services of credit monitoring. People dont want to look at individual report. What they want to be able to do is be alerted when something happens. That is service we do offer to people out there. For a fee. For a fee, absolutely because it operates money to operate the service and it is Important Service that can really help protect peoples identities. Thanks for talking to me today. Thanks very much. Gerri i wasnt kidding when i said i pulled all three of my Credit Reports last night and read them. I did. What i saw, lots of mistakes. Some were small. Wrong address. Others were more serious. One report tripled my mortgage debt. The truth is, the accuracy of your Credit Report is more important to you, than it toys the companies producing them. You can check them for free once a year. Go to annual Credit Report. Com. Annual Credit Report. Com. Not the website with the mall adjusted musicians or any other lame websites that try to charge you money. It matters you may be denied a loan or pay a hefty Interest Rate if your credit score is too high. Coming up well have continued coverage of breaking news story i told you at the top of the show. The First American case of ebola has been diagnosed. Youre looking at live pictures of a dallas hospital where this case is unfolding. We will go to a News Conference at cdc for details. Stay with us. Niels. Look at this. Whats this . Clicks are off the charts. Yeah. Yoshi, were back. Yes, sir more shipping more shipping [ beeping ] and cialis for daily use helps you be Ready Anytime the moment is right. 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I will be right back with you with more questions. I want to turn now to you, rick. The way this disease is coming to this country. I know that you are a travel expert. You spend a lot of time thinking about the airlines. What needs to happen here . What kind of precautions, if any, are u. S. Airlines taking . Is it enough for u. S. Airlines to do something . Yes, i mean, at the moment the u. S. Airlines typically do not in fact, they do not fly into very often there are a few flights into a couple different cities. Mostly they are relying upon their partners, theyre flying partners, including British Airways in a variety of other ones that youre with american airlines. But delta it would be several different partners and united different partners foppery theyre depending upon those airlines to that those passengers. Of the most people realize, but if you actually looking before you get on your flight, especially international, they will put you out and say you cannot travel. As the doctor said before, sometimes it is hard to tell if somebody is ill. Certainly not every Flight Attendant is trained as a medical person. Gerri absolutely not. I am sure you say that that is not a big enough precautions. What needs to happen in this country to keep folks safe . You say that we can isolate these patients. This individual case where we are talking about in dallas does not pose a threat to the general population, but are there other precautions that need to be taken . It becomes like a detective story. One of the things that the cdc will do is try to track every contact that this person had. Of course the question now is, well, what about on that plane. The truth is, there have been studies done on tuberculosis on a plane. He would not believe this, but it is hard to catch on a point. It is not airborne. Youre not going to get it by touching someone, even ebola. Would have to be very close contact with the secretion. It is not likely a person would have transmitted on the plane. And now in the United States under wraps, i dont think anyone will get it. It is possible that he has come into contact with others. They have to play Sherlock Holmes a track that down. Gerri rick, you follow the airline industry, covered extensively. What is going through the minds of Airline Executives tonight as they learn that the person we are talking about in dallas most likely came here from africa on an airplane . Right now theyre worried about selling Airline Tickets. People start saying, look, i am not going to travel over the Atlantic Pacific because i am worried that i may have an issue, a health issue, especially something so incredibly bad as the ebola virus. We have seen sars. Lots of things that dropped ticket prices. Executives are asking the same questions, what we can do to make sure the flying public is safe and now we let them know that there will be safe. Gerri did you say that Airline Ticket prices dropped in the wake of sars . Absolutely. Ticket prices, any kind of event. We have seen stuff in mexico when there were issues. Asia. People, they get skittish about flying, especially for these thousand, 1,700 flights. They just wont go. Gerri i think that brings up a good question. We are talking about ebola, people are worried, and even now you are looking at pictures of the Texas Health Presbyterian hospital in dallas where the first u. S. Diagnose is right here in the United States of america ebola patient is and is being treated in isolation no doubt. What do parents, mom and dad and grandparents need to know tonight as they are thinking about the spread of this disease to this country . The first point is that fear is a prominent virus. If you watch this on tv, if youre watching is now you immediately think that this could happen to me. The truth is, it cant. It is very remote from three the second thing you should be comforted by is we are learning from this case. In dallas, the cdc are seeing a case right up close now. They can learn from this case about how to treat ebola and contain it. This kind of information is priceless, especially as we get a vaccine ready. That is also important. Again, the detective part of this is important, but Everyone Needs to realize that this is not like the flu or a cold. It is really, really difficult to get this. Even if you were in the same room with a ebola patient, a touch the surface is that the attached you will not get it. Gerri i just want to mention because here it is 5 33 p. M. , and the markets have been closed. In afterhours Trading Companies that make ebola vaccines, stocks are soaring, some of 20 , to america pharmaceuticals, genetics, on and on the story goes. People are buying these stocks because now, today, for the first time in american right here in this country diagnosed with ebola for the first time, and we are Just Moments Away from a press conference with the cdc where they will talk about what has happened. Again, you are looking at pictures of the taxes of Presbyterian Hospital in dallas with his patient is being held entreated and isolated which is the point that he is making. We are good at isolating patients with contagious diseases. How important is this . Tell us something about what that means as a practical matter . It is really, really important to isolate the patient. What that means is by the way, you will see masks and gowns, but i want people to no, that is overkill. Just keeping the patient away from other people is what theyre not doing well in west africa where people are watching or are very close in with sick people, that stuff we would not do in a million years here in the United States. Simply putting the patient in an isolation room where you use gloves and gowns and keep the patient off limits will be enough. I want to comment quickly on something that is being said about air travel. Their is a huge economic cost. During sars it was 30 million or more that the asian economy suffered losses. The end up cutting off air flights entirely to these countries it will be like a chokehold. Gerri like a choke hold. And the Associated Press confirming what we have been saying that a patient being treated at a dallas hospital is testing positive for ebola. The taxes at that texas health the folks at the taxes Health Presbyterian hospital, there will be coming up with recommendations for keeping everyone safe. Youre looking at pictures of that hospital. The cdc running a little late in getting to us with the latest news on this. We, of course, will bring this to you and continue to follow the story. Again, lets bring you back here you have been talking about travel in the age of ebola. What would be your advice to people who are planning to travel overseas, possibly to africa . I have neighbors who are just back from africa. Would you cancel a trip like that . I definitely would be looking at or talking to my airline, looking at the information, actually getting information from the doctor. I just got back on a flight from london heathrow last night. I guarantee you that there were at least 10,000 people from africa runn. My name is michael. Im 55 years old and i have diabetic nerve pain. The pain was terrible. My feet hurt so bad. It felt like hot pins and needles coming from the inside out of my skin. When i did go see the doctor, and he prescribed lyrica, it helped me. Its known that diabetes damages nerves. Lyrica is fdaapproved to treat diabetic nerve pain. Lyrica is not for everyone. It may cause serious allergic reactions, or suicidal thoughts or actions. Tell your doctor right away if you have these, new or worsening depression, or unusual changes in mood or behavior. Or swelling, trouble breathing, rash, hives, blisters, changes in eyesight including blurry vision, muscle pain with fever, tired feeling, or skin sores from diabetes. Common side effects are dizziness, sleepiness, weight gain and swelling of hands, legs and feet. Dont drink alcohol while taking lyrica. Dont drive or use machinery until you know how lyrica affects you. Those who have had a drug or alcohol problem may be more likely to misuse lyrica. Having reduced pain is great, and im grateful for it. Ask your doctor about lyrica and visit lyrica. Com to learn about our 25 copay offer. Gerri in case you missed it tonight, the First American diagnosed with ebola, and you are looking at the very hospital where this person is, the Texas Health Presbyterian hospital in dallas where this person is being held and treated in isolation, we are being told. Currently we are awaiting a cdc press conference to give more details on this. Again, the First American diagnosed with ebola. One to turn you turn to you. Youre with us now. An expert on travel and airlines. We came across information that i thought is worth mentioning tonight. Apparently there are about 200,000 africans from countries hosting the deadly ebola virus to hold temporary visas to visit the United States, raising the stakes that it can spread to america. Pardon me, the cdc right now. We will go straight to its. Cdc ebola media briefing. I am barbara reynolds, the director of Public Affairs here at cdc. We will be hearing briefly from four speakers and then take questions from the media. Our first speaker is the director of cdc backed chair tom friedman. Good afternoon, everybody. Thank you for joining us. As you have been hearing from us, fox business is a serious disease. It is only spread by direct contact with someone who is sick with the virus. And it is only spread through body fluid. The incubation is eight to ten days after exposure. Can be as short as two or as long as 21. It is a severe disease which has a high case fatality rate, even with the best of care, but there are core tried and true Public Health interventions that stop it. Today we are providing the information that an individual travelling from liberia has been diagnosed with ebola in the United States. This individual left liberia on the 19th of september, arrived in the u. S. On the 20th of september, had no symptoms when departing liberia or entering this country, but for five days later around the 24th of september began to develop symptoms. On the 26 of september he initially sought care and sunday the 28th of september was admitted to a hospital in texas and placed on isolation. We received in our laboratory today specimens from the individual, tested them, and they tested positive for ebola. The state of texas also operates a laboratory that found the same results, testing for ebola is highly accurate. It is a pcr test of blood. So what does this mean . The next steps are basically threefold. First, to care for the patient, and we will be hearing from the hospital shortly to provide the most effective care possible, as safely as possible, to keep to an absolute minimum the likelihood or we are invested in ensuring that the disease is controlled in africa but also in ensuring that where there are patients in this country become male they are immediately isolated and we do the tried and true for Public Health interventions that stop the spread of ebola. Thank you, dr. Tom frieden. I would like to nex dr. Good man. Thank you, dr. Friedman. The cdc. I want to correct one statement that might have been misinterpreted by dr. Friedman when he commented on the air we breathe. Ebola is not transmitted by the air. It is not an airborne infection. Texas Health Dallas is a Large Community hospital with a robust Infection Control system that works in close cooperation with the Dallas County Health Department the centers for Disease Control in the system and in the community. We have had a plan in place for some time now in the event of a patient presecretary with possible ebola. Ironically enough in the week before this patient presented, we had a meeting of all the stakeholders that might be involved in the care of such a patient. And because of that, we were wellprepared to deal with this crisis. Thank you. Thank you, dr. Good man. Our final speaker is the Dallas County health and Human Services director, zachary thomas. Director tom son. Good afternoon our hearts go to the family as well as. I want to thank the department of state as well as presbyterian for our response in dallas kuhn. I also want to commend our medical director and our team for their work that theyve been doing in conducting public followup on the patient which continues contact investigation to gather information based on the patients travel history, activities, and close contacts. Dallas county health and Human Services will proceed with the Public Health followup per cdc guidelines and Dallas County Health Services want dallas citizens to know that your health is our number one priority. We will continue to work hard to protect the health and welfare of the citizens of Dallas County. Thank you. Thank you director thomas. Well now take questions. Thank you very much for questions well start in the room and then go to the phone. Thank you very much also for that comment dr. Good man. As emphasissed ebola is only spread by direct contact. Touchdowns spread by any other route. I also want to thank texas and Dallas County Health Departments for their collaborations. Cdc has a team of epidemiologists on route to texas now at the request of the Texas Department of health and we work hand in hand clability to do what Public Health does best which is protect people. And we protect people in this case by making sure that we find the contacts, identify them and make sure that theyre traced every day for 21 days, and if they develop a fever, that theyre immediately isolated. So first question in the room. So you were saying that he started showing symptoms went to a hospital, and then was released, sent home, and then was not admitted until a day or two later . So the initial symptoms of ebola are often nonspecific. That means they are symptoms that may be associated with many other conditions so it may not be immediately identified as ebola. Thats why we have encouraged all Emergency Department physicians to take a history of travel within the last 21 days. Thats something to reiterate to do rapid testing. I think you summarized it very well. Next question in the room. I know youre limited with patient privacy, but can you tell us a little bit was this person involved in fighting the ebola epidemic also did they travel on a commercial aircraft . From the information that we have now, touchdowns appear that the individual was involved in the response to ebola. But thats something that we will investigate more. In terms of the airline flight. I really want to emphasize the focus here over the next period needs to be the patient, and were very, very focused on trying to get any assistance we can to the patient who we understand is critically ill at this point and then identifying contacts in the community, family members or others, and then who any possible contacts through the Health Care Setting and then tracing those contacts. In terms of the flight, i understand that people are curious about that and wonder about that, but remember that ebola doesnt spread before someone gets sick and he didnt get sick until four days after he got off the airplane. We dont believe there is any risk to anyone on the flight at that time. He left on the 19th and arrived on the 20th. Next question in the room. Michelle alloy. How likely is this to continue to be a concern with people coming back from the region who are showing symptoms then, but may later, and what is being done at airports and sort of the first lines of people coming into the country to ensure Something Like this doesnt continue to be an issue. As long as there continue to be cases in west africa the reality is that patients travel, individuals travel, and that appears to happen in this case. Individuals may travel before they have any symptoms. One of the things that cdc has done in liberia and lagos is to work with the airport authority. So 100 percent of the individuals getting on planes are screamed for fever before they get on the plane. If they have a fever, theyre pulled out of the line, assessed for ebola and dont fly unless ebola is ruled out. This is one way to make sure that the airplanes themselves are safe during transit and the airlines are willing to keep flying. But that doesnt rule out a situation like this one where someone was exposed and then came in while they were incould you beating the disease, but not infectious with it. Can you tell us where he was and do you know why he was in those countries. The details of the individual are things that we will investigate. Some of those things have to do with patient confidential. We will defer to the family for any other information on those details. We have a question here and then shall we go to the phones. Do you expect the patient to remain in texas and be treated there or transferred to facilities such as emery or one of the other specialties around the country that have been treating them in the past. One of the things we want to emphasize is that virtually any hospital in this country that can do isolation can do isolation for ebola. In fact over the past decade, although this is the first ebola patient in this country weve had five patients with other forms of very deadly viruses, four of them loss fever, none of those five patients spread the disease to anyone caring for them in the hospital. Even though they werent promptly diagnosed. So we dont see a need from either a medical or Infection Control standpoint to try to move the patient. I think that summarizes it very well. On the phone . Please press star one the first question is miriam from cnn news. Hi, thanks for taking the call. Can you tell us how sick the patient is how the patient is being treated and how many contacts you are trying to reach. That might be something for the folks in texas. And also, will this patient be staying at the hospital in dallas . So let me turn first to dr. Goodman if theres any anything you can share about the patients status or treatment. Because of the patients privacy, were unenable to share anything about the patients symptoms at this time. I can say that hes ill. Hes under intensive care. Hes being seen by highly trained competent specialties and the Health Department is helping us in tracing any family members that might have been exposed. And director thomas, do you want to say anything further about contacts. I want to echo that our staff has been doing the Public Health followup since day one so well continue that process, and well have more details in days to come, but right now everything is going fine. Thank you. As i mentioned earlier, we have a team on route to texas now. They will work hand in hand with the staff to identify all possible contacts. And then monitor them every day for 21 days to see if they have fever. This is core Public Health work. They say what we do in Public Health and were delighted to be doing it in partnership with texas. Were concerned about the patient and hoping for his recovery. On the phone. The next question the wall street becky. I wondered if i could ask for a little more detail about potential exposures. Do you have is there anything that any of you could say more about what this patient was doing between the 24th when he had symptoms and the 28th when he was admitted. Was he just at home and so only family members were potentially exposed or how many people or was he out . Are we talking about a handful of people or more than that, dozens. I think handful is the right characterization. We know that there are several family members. They may have been one or two or three other community members. And were there to do additional investigations to identify any other possibilities. Our approach in this kind of case is to cast the net widely to ensure that were identifying even people who may not have had direct contact so that were erring if erring on the side of safety. Mr. Thomas, anything else you would like to add . I concur our role is to look at suspected cases. And we appreciate sending your team to support us in this effort. We think again its a small framework were looking at in terms of the number of people, but once he get additional people well report out to the public. And i would comment, this is a tried and true protocol. This is what we do in Public Health. Its what we do in this country for a variety of infectious diseases. In fact by coincidence, today we released in the morbidity and mortality report our weekly bulletin, a report of nigeria investigation a single patient came in. Unlike this, that patient wasnt cared of and resulted a number of secondary cases. Even in lagos and even with 19 secondary cases, they appeared to be able to stop the outbreak. I have no doubt we will stop