CDC director 'remains confident' US can contain Ebola

The director of U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Thursday he "remains confident" that the United States can contain the spread of the Ebola virus in the United States.

The CDC and Texas health authorities said in a news conference they are assessing as many as 100 contacts of the patient and only "a handful" have been identified as possibly being exposed to Ebola.

Dr Thomas Frieden, CDC's director, also said the agency has been looking closely at the issue of the safe removal of medical waste generated by patients with Ebola.

Currently, hospitals do not have the capability of sterilizing it, and U.S. transportation regulations prohibit waste haulers from removing it. Frieden said the agency expects to have that issue resolved today.

(Reporting by Michele Gershberg; Editing by James Dalgleish)