The Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the fight against Ebola is in a state of transition. Dr. Tom Frieden told the Atlanta Press Club on Wednesday that health workers are making progress in slowing the explosive growth in new infections in West Africa.

The agency has 180 public health workers in the region, its largest global response ever.

"The next challenge and, quite frankly, the harder challenge is getting to zero. Identifying every case, tracing every chain of transmission, going to every community in each of these three countries to make sure that people with fever are appropriately evaluated and if they might have Ebola, tested," Frieden said.

Atlanta-based CDC reports more than 17,834 cases of Ebola were reported in West Africa. 6,346 have died from the disease. Dr. Frieden says a system of global health security will stop the spread of infectious diseases in the future.

Tags: Ebola, Dr. Tom Frieden, CDC, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Bradley George, Atlanta Press Club