New York (CNN)Former
President Bill Clinton said at a United Nations event Thursday that he
underwent Ebola screening from the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention after a recent visit to Liberia, but that he was never
exposed to the deadly virus.
"This
morning, I'm officially Ebola-free," Clinton told the United Nations'
Economic and Social Council Partnership Forum during a speech that
focused on using partnerships to combat global issues like Ebola,
poverty and education.
Through his
family's foundation, Clinton and a delegation of Clinton Foundation
donors traveled to Tanzania, Kenya, Liberia and Morocco during a
nine-day Africa trip earlier this month.
Liberia celebrates beating Ebola with farewell party 01:10
After
returning to the United States, Clinton told the American Institute of
Architects during a keynote address that he was taking his temperature
everyday, as required by the CDC.
"Our
foundation just took its annual trip to Africa," he said. "My daughter
and I took off for a day and went to Liberia, right before they were
declared Ebola-free. I still have to take my temperature twice a day. So
far I can't even get to 98.6."
An
Ebola outbreak ravaged Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone last year,
infecting 24,000 people and killing 10,000, according to one official
count. In May, the World Health Organization declared the Ebola breakout
in Liberia was over after the virus claimed 4,000 lives.
In
response to the outbreak, the CDC stepped up screening and monitoring
systems in an effort to control the spread of the outbreak. This
included tracking and screening everyone who visited the country before
it was declared Ebola-free.
"For 21
days, after leaving one of these West African countries, all travelers
are asked to take their temperature two times a day and watch for Ebola
symptoms," CDC guidelines said. In addition, the returning travelers
were "actively monitored by the state or local health department,"
meaning a public health worker checked in with them once a day for three
weeks.
On Thursday, Clinton implored
U.N. diplomats to invest more in building health systems in countries
like Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, and called the Ebola outbreak a
"man-made disaster" that requires a mix of partnerships and government
planning to address.
WHO declares Ebola dead in Liberia 01:52
"The
things we take for granted which are not present elsewhere, are the
things I believe we should focus our partnerships on," he said. "There
is no better place to prove the point than in the Ebola-affected
countries. There is no better place to spend the money."
The
key, Clinton said, was access to medical professionals, an issue that
compounded problems in Ebola-affected countries. He told the assembled
delegates that in some countries, the number of doctors per person was
equivalent to Manhattan -- with its 1.6 million people -- being served
by 23 doctors.
"The older I get," he said, "the more I am convinced that I use 23 doctors in Manhattan." LINK
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