Ebola could infect 1.4 million, CDC says

NEW YORK – U.S. health officials Tuesday laid out worst-case and best-case scenarios for the Ebola epidemic in West Africa, warning that the number of infected people could explode to at least 1.4 million by mid-January – or the outbreak could be almost over by then, if control efforts are ramped up.

The widely varying projections by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention were based on conditions in late August and do not take into account a recent international surge in medical aid for the stricken region. That burst has given health authorities reason for some optimism.

“I’m confident the most dire projections are not going to come to pass,” CDC chief Dr. Tom Frieden said in releasing the report.

About 5,800 illnesses and more than 2,800 deaths have been counted since the first cases were reported six months ago. But international health authorities have warned that the crisis is probably far worse in reality, with many corpses and infected people hidden or unreported.

In its worst-case scenario, the CDC said the number of illnesses in those nations could hit 1.4 million by Jan. 20.

Secret Service agents had talked to intruder

WASHINGTON – The Secret Service twice interviewed an Army veteran before he was arrested inside the White House after allegedly climbed over a security fence.

A federal law enforcement official says agents spoke to Omar J. Gonzalez in July after he was arrested in rural Virginia when state troopers found an illegal sawed off shotgun and a map of Washington tucked inside a Bible with the a circle drawn around the White House.

The official says Gonzalez was interviewed again in August after agents spotted him near a White House fence with a small hatchet in his waistband.

The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss details of an ongoing investigation, says agents concluded after both interviews that Gonzalez was not a security threat.

Associated Press