WASHINGTON, December 16 (Sputnik) – Ebola virus is listed as the top public health challenge the United States faces in 2014, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has said in a press statement.
"With 170 staff in the field and more than 700 people working on Ebola at any one time, CDC's response to the ongoing Ebola outbreak in West Africa is the largest in the agency's history," the CDC statement, released Monday, said, adding that the virus is the first of the 10 most important US public health challenges this year.
There have been a total of 4 confirmed Ebola virus cases among US citizens and 1 death from the virus, according to CDC. Two people contracted the virus in the United States, while the other two were infected in West Africa, where the current Ebola outbreak erupted in December, 2013.
The World Health Organization estimates that over 6,800 people have died as a result of the ongoing Ebola outbreak.
According to CDC, antibiotic resistance is the second most dangerous health hazard for US citizens that "remains a serious threat" since it can make it harder and more expensive to address drug resistance in the future.
Enterovirus D-68, a previously rare virus that mostly affects US children and is "particularly severe in children with asthma", is listed as number three among worst health hazards for the US society.
Other challenging public-health threats for US citizens for this year include HIV/AIDS, the Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome, cardiovascular diseases, smoking and prescription drug overdose.
