White House: Surge of Resources to Deal with Ebola

President Barack Obama met with top health officials at the White House Monday a day after reports that a Texas nurse contracted the Ebola virus from the patient who died last week.

President Barack Obama speaks at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2014. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Thomas Frieden talked about the matter with the president during the afternoon meeting.

Thomas Eric Duncan died last week at a Dallas, Texas hospital where the health worker was exposed. The White House news release said they briefed the president on the investigation and “the apparent breach in infection control protocols at the Dallas hospital.”

Frieden previously backtracked from saying that protocols were not followed, explaining that he did not mean to sound like he was blaming the health worker or the hospital.

Burwell and Frieden also “described the surge in personnel and other resources to Dallas to assist in the investigation as well as other measures to heighten awareness and increase training for healthcare workers throughout the country,” according to a White House news release on the meeting.

“The President reinforced that this investigation should proceed as expeditiously as possible and that lessons learned should be integrated into future response plans and disseminated to hospitals and healthcare workers nationwide,” the release said.