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Obama Cancels Trip to Rhode Island, New York to Focus on Ebola Response

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Earlier this week US President Barack Obama postponed trips to New Jersey and Connecticut, part of his campaign ahead of midterm elections on November 4 due to Ebola outbreak.

MOSCOW, October 16 (RIA Novosti) - US President Barack Obama has canceled his trip to Rhode Island and New York on Thursday to review his administration's response to the Ebola outbreak, the White House announced Wednesday.

Earlier on Wednesday Obama postponed trips to New Jersey and Connecticut, part of his campaign ahead of midterm elections on November 4, to hold a meeting at the White House concerning the Ebola outbreak. The president's visits to Rhode Island and New York were also planned as part of the campaign.

"I am absolutely confident that we can prevent a serious outbreak of the disease here in the United States, but it becomes more difficult to do so if this epidemic of Ebola rages out of control in West Africa. If it does, then it will spread globally in an age of frequent travel and the kind of constant interactions that people have across borders," Obama said following the Wednesday US government meeting on Ebola.

The first Ebola virus case inside the United States was confirmed earlier this month. On October 8, Liberian national Thomas Eric Duncan died of Ebola at the Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital. Two medical workers had subsequently been infected with the virus.

The current Ebola epidemic broke out in Guinea in February and soon spread to the neighboring countries of Liberia, Sierra Leone, Nigeria and Senegal.

The Ebola virus is transmitted through direct contact with the bodily fluids of those infected. Though there is no officially approved medication for the disease, several countries are currently working on developing Ebola vaccines.

According to the World Health Organization, almost 9,000 people are currently infected, with the disease having killed about 4,500 so far.

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