Gates Package — page 50

October 17, 2014 The Honorable Rob Portman United States Senate Washington, DC 20510 Dear Senator Portman: Thank you for your letter to President Obama regarding the opportunity to further strengthen the U.S, government's efforts to contain the spread of the Ebola virus disease (Ebola) in the U.S. and stop the Ebola outbreak at its source in West Africa, Your letter was forwarded to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for a response. As you are aware, the U.S government is accelerating response efforts to the outbreak, both domestically and abroad, through multiple channels. Like you, I am committed to ensuring an efficient and productive collaboration among all federal agencies involved, as we work together toward the shared goal of controlling this epidemic In response to your recommendation to appoint one agency leader to serve as a central point-ofcontact for all U.S, efforts related to Ebola, President Obama has named Mr. Ron Klain, to coordinate a whole-of-government response and to lead a regular series of meetings and calls with all federal agencies involved. Under his leadership, these agencies will continue to work together to stop the spread of Ebola both at home and abroad. Domestically, involved federal agencies are working together to prepare and fortify our national public health infrastructure to prevent entry of and respond quickly and effectively to Ebola cases in the United States, specificaily, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) acted quickly based on its plan to support state and local efforts to treat the U.S. index case in Dallas, Texas, CDC has updated these plans based on lessons learned, and details on these plans are enclosed for your reference. Globally, the U.S. government is collaborating to achieve four main goals related to the outbreak in West Africa, as declared by President Obama: © Control the outbreak, * Address the ripple effects of local economies and communities to prevent a truly massive humanitarian disaster. © Coordinate a broader global response. © Urgently build up a public health system in these countries for the future, The United States Agency for International Development continues to lead the U.S. overseas response to the outbreak, while the Department of Defense (DoD), CDC, the U.S. Department of State, the National Institutes of Health, the U.S, Food and Drug Administration, and the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response are supporting the whole-of-government approach led by Mr, Klain and the National Security Council. Detailed information about the