US President Barack Obama appoints Ebola tsar

US President Barack Obama appointed an Ebola tsar for the United States yesterday, while the government said a Texas health worker who may have had contact with specimens from an Ebola patient had been isolated on a cruise ship.

Obama, who has faced sharp criticism from some lawmakers over efforts to contain the deadly virus, appointed Ron Klain, a lawyer who previously served as chief of staff to Vice Presidents Joe Biden and Al Gore, the White House said.

The cruise ship incident added to growing concerns about the possible spread of Ebola after two nurses who cared for Thomas Eric Duncan, the first person diagnosed with Ebola in the United States, contracted the virus, which has killed more than 4,500 people, mostly in West Africa.

The worst hit countries have been Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. The World Food Programme said yesterday that food prices in those countries had risen by an average of 24 per cent, forcing some families to reduce their intake to one meal a day.

The Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital worker aboard the cruise ship, who did not have direct contact with the now-deceased Liberian patient but could have processed his bodily fluids, left on Sunday on a cruise from Galveston, Texas, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said.

The health worker had been self-monitoring since October 6 and had not developed a fever or other symptoms of Ebola, the State Department said.