Obama cancels campaign trip, Ebola meeting set at White House

WASHINGTON (AFP) - President Barack Obama set aside a campaign trip Wednesday to lead a meeting at the White House on the US government's response to the Ebola outbreak, a spokesman said.

The president's change of plans came after a second health care worker in Texas was diagnosed with the disease.

"Late this afternoon, the president will convene a meeting at the White House of his team coordinating the government's response to the Ebola outbreak," spokesman John Earnest said.

Obama had been scheduled to travel to New Jersey and Connecticut for campaign events, but he cancelled the appearances as more bad news came in on the Ebola front.

The US Centres for Disease Control said the latest health care worker diagnosed with Ebola was on a domestic flight from Cleveland to Dallas the day before she was diagnosed.

The US Centres for Disease Control said the woman "exhibited no signs or symptoms of illness while on flight 1143, according to the crew", but the agency wants to speak with passengers anyway to determine if anyone is at risk.

"Because of the proximity in time between the evening flight and first report of illness the following morning, CDC is reaching out to passengers who flew on Frontier Airlines flight 1143 Cleveland to Dallas/Fort Worth Oct. 13," the CDC said in a statement.

"Passengers who may have travelled on flight 1143 should contact CDC at 1 800 CDC-INFO (1 800 232-4636)."

The agency is seeking to interview more than 130 people who were on the Frontier Airlines flight.

The second case of US transmission of Ebola was announced by Dallas officials on Wednesday, and follows the diagnosis on Sunday of nurse Nina Pham.

Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.