Premature to fast track Ebola drug: Barack Obama

Washington: President Barack Obama has said it would be "premature" for him to comment on whether the Ebola drug developed by the US scientists and used for the treatment of some patients should be fast tracked in the country if proved effective against the deadly disease.

"I think it's premature for me to say that because I don't have enough information. I don't have enough data right now to offer an opinion on that," he said on Tuesday.

"We have got to let the science guide us. I don't think all the information is in on whether this drug is helpful. What we do know is that the Ebola virus, both currently and in the past, is controllable if you have a strong public health infrastructure in place," he said.

He said the countries that have been affected are the first to admit that their public health systems have been overwhelmed and weren't able to identify and isolate cases quickly enough.

"You did not have a strong trust relationship between some of the communities that were affected and public health workers. As a consequence, it spread more rapidly than has been typical with the periodic Ebola outbreaks that have occurred previously," he said.

"But despite obviously the extraordinary pain and hardship of the families and persons who've been affected, and despite the fact that we have to take this very seriously, it is important to remind ourselves this is not an airborne disease, this is one that can be controlled and contained very effectively if we use the right protocols," he said.

We're surging not just US resources, but have reached out to European partners and partners from other countries, working with the WHO, he said.

"Let's get all the health workers that we need on the ground. Let's help to bolster the systems that they already have in place, Let's nip as early as possible any additional outbreaks of the disease," he said.

"It's entirely appropriate for us to see if there are additional drugs or medical treatments that can improve the survivability of what is a very deadly and obviously brutal disease," he added.