Editorial: Anti-Ebola effort requires billions from U.S.

Dr. Craig Spencer and New York City are now Ebola-free. The pronouncement by Mayor Bill de Blasio is powerful evidence that when caught early and managed properly, Ebola doesn't have to be the death sentence it has become for so many in West Africa.

Eight of nine people treated in the United States have recovered, easing fears that infected the nation after the first case was diagnosed Sept. 28 in Dallas. Thomas Eric Duncan, who was initially misdiagnosed after arriving from Liberia, is the only person who has died of Ebola on U.S. soil.

Reducing the risk of infected people entering the country is the best way to protect the American public. The surest way to do that is to control the epidemic raging in West Africa. Congress should approve President Barack Obama's request for $6.18 billion to combat Ebola in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, where more than 5,100 people have died and the survival rate is a disheartening 63 percent. Google and Facebook recently launched Ebola relief fundraising campaigns to encourage private giving, but the federal government needs to step up.

Some of the funding Obama seeks would be spent here to develop a vaccine and strengthen public health systems. But most would go to Africa to enhance infection control and contact tracing, provide protective equipment and supplies, and expand laboratory capacity and airport screening. It would also fund the U.S. military's anti-Ebola effort in Africa, where 4,000 people are building treatment units, a hospital for medical workers and assisting with safe burials.

That's the comprehensive response it will take to have any hope of one day declaring West Africa free of Ebola.