Maryland holds drill to test response to Ebola

BRIAN WITTE
Associated Press

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — The state of Maryland has held an Ebola-focused exercise to test the state’s ability to respond to the deadly virus.

Gov. Martin O’Malley convened the cabinet-level drill on Monday. The governor’s press office says there have been no cases of Ebola in Maryland, and the likelihood of an outbreak in the state is low.

Nina Smith, the governor’s spokeswoman, says O’Malley typically convenes four of these kinds of exercises that involve his cabinet a year. Smith says the last one was held last week, and O’Malley decided to hold an Ebola-specific drill this week “due to real world events.”

A current Ebola outbreak in the three West African nations of Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone has sickened more than 1,300 people and killed at least 800.

Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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