CDC Says Ebola Virus Still On Upswing

The Center For Disease Control and Prevention said this week that the spread rate of the Ebola virus still remains on the upswing.

According to the Associated Press, the reproduction number for Ebola still remains at a 1.5, meaning the virus will still be able to be passed on from an infected person to a non-infected person and continue to flourish. According to the CDC, the virus's spread is on the decline when the reproduction number falls below one.

The CDC is imploring all countries, especially those in West Africa, to do everything they can to stop the spread of the virus. "The speed at which things are moving on the ground, it's hard for people to get their minds around. People don't understand the concept of exponential growth," Tom Frieden, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said in a statement. "Exponential growth in the context of three weeks means, 'If I know that X needs to be done, and I work my butt off and get it done in three weeks, it's now half as good as it needs to be.' "

This week, the U.S. stepped up its efforts to prevent Ebola from entering the country by starting screening stations at five major U.S. airports in New Jersey, New York, Atlanta and Chicago. The stations will take the temperatures of people who are de-boarding planes from West Africa.

Earlier this week, the first man to have Ebola in the U.S. passed away at a hospital in Dallas, Texas. The man had recently visited Liberia and returned home when he began showing symptoms of the disease. He leaves behind several family members, including a fiancé, who must now grieve for her loss in a quarantined area.