Lawmakers ‘alarmed’ by ongoing Ebola outbreak in Africa

Washington, DC – Three of the top Democrats on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which oversees the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, joined forces today to shed light on the ongoing Ebola outbreak in Africa and called on federal health officials to immediately provide members of Congress a full briefing on what's being done to contain the spread of the deadly virus.

According to data released by the CDC, the ongoing Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo is now the second-deadliest outbreak of the disease, ever.

U.S. Reps. Diana DeGette (D-CO), Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) and Anna Eshoo (D-CA), who serve as Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee's Oversight and Investigations panel, the full committee and its subcommittee on Health, respectively, called the ongoing spread of the deadly disease "alarming" and demanded to know what federal officials are doing to contain its spread.

"The ongoing spread of Ebola in parts of Africa is both tragic and alarming," the lawmakers said in a joint statement Wednesday. "The Committee will continue its longstanding oversight of federal efforts to respond to emerging foreign infectious disease threats.

"We have asked the CDC to provide us a full briefing on the scope of this Ebola outbreak, the challenges it faces in trying to contain it and how public health agencies are working to address it."