Ebola risk for Minn. very low, officials say

The Ebola virus outbreak, which has killed more than 930 people in four West African countries, stands only "an extremely low" chance of spreading to Minnesota, a state health official told a community gathering Wednesday night in Brooklyn Center.

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"There has not been any transmission of Ebola in the United States. And importantly its not spread through casual contact, even among people who have traveled to countries in West Africa where outbreaks is occurring," said Aaron DeVries, the medical director of the infectious disease division at the Minnesota Department of Health. "The risk of catching Ebola in the general public is very importantly extremely low."

Brooklyn Center and northwest Twin Cities metro area has a significant West African population. Wynfred Russell, executive director of the African Career, Education and Resource organization, and a first-generation Liberian immigrant, says the outbreak has brought some unwarranted social stigma to the community.

"I'm still disturbed by it," he said at the meeting. "That someone would see me and fear me only because I'm West African. I think that's a concern for all of us. And the more information we can provide out there, the better it's going to be."

"There has not been any transmission of Ebola in the United States. And importantly its not spread through casual contact, even among people who have traveled to countries in West Africa where outbreaks is occurring," DeVries said. Instead, the virus is spread through contact with blood or bodily fluids of those infected.