A former Winnipegger has been praised by U.S. President Barack Obama for his efforts fighting Ebola.
Dr. David Peters is the International Health Chair with Johns Hopkins University.
Peters grew up in Elmwood and attended the University of Manitoba.
On Wednesday, Obama praised some health care workers who were on the front lines in West Africa. Peters did research and helped with the Ebola response in Liberia.
He returned to the U.S. on Oct. 20. Peters calls it a humbling experience.
"Yes, I was surprised, I was especially surprised when he was talking about American heroes, given that I'm Canadian, but it was not expected. We knew the President was highly interested in it," he said.
Peters says he wasn't scared to go to Liberia because, if you look at the science, the chance of getting the virus is very low.
He says the best thing Canadians and Americans can to do prevent Ebola from spreading is to continue fighting it abroad.
According to the World Health Organization’s latest update, there have been 13,567 reported cases of Ebola across eight countries. The WHO reported 4951 deaths from the virus.
