Gov. Paul LePage says Maine is prepared to handle an Ebola outbreak, but the top two state positions responsible for monitoring and preventing outbreaks of infectious disease are vacant at a time when concern is mounting about the deadly disease.

Officials with the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention say they are interviewing candidates to replace state epidemiologist Dr. Stephen Sears, who resigned in May, and that they eventually will hire a deputy state epidemiologist.

Some Maine public health officials say they are concerned that the two top jobs are not filled. Ebola has killed thousands in West Africa and recently struck in the United States, killing a man in Texas and infecting two health care workers who treated him. Earlier this week, Maine Medical Center in Portland held a patient in isolation for two days while testing for Ebola. The tests came back negative.

Meanwhile, enterovirus D-68 has sickened nearly 800 people across the country. The virus most severely affects children with asthma.

“We need somebody in that job who has the experience to respond to an infectious disease crisis,” said Tina Pettingill, executive director of the Maine Public Health Association. “We are deeply concerned about these two vacancies.”

Maine CDC Director Dr. Sheila Pinette said her office has been working for months to find Sears’ replacement. She hopes to have someone in place by the end of the year.

“We have some good candidates,” Pinette said. “I feel confident with the present situation.”

Sears couldn’t be reached for comment Thursday. LePage spokeswoman Adrienne Bennett did not respond to questions about whether the state could be fully prepared without those experts in place, deferring to Pinette’s response.

The deputy state epidemiologist position has been vacant since late 2013. Pinette plans to fill that job as well, but could not say when.

Pettingill is concerned that the salary for the top job, between $120,000 and $166,000 depending on education and experience, is too low to lure a good epidemiologist.

Though a national salary average could not be determined, a small sampling of states indicated that Maine is not that far off the mark in its salary offering.

In Idaho, state epidemiologist Christine Hahn earns $152,016, according to the state’s website. Arkansas’ epidemiologist Dirk Haselow said he earns $168,000.

Oregon’s state epidemiologist, Katrina Hedberg, did not give out her annual salary, but said the pay range in her state for the position is between $112,000 and $170,000. Hedberg said Oregon pays 5 percent to 7 percent above that salary range if a person has medical board certification.

“It seems like a lot of money to most people, but to get an experienced physician, that’s not a lot of money,” she said. “It’s a very tough job with a lot of pressure.”

Pettingill said the job is especially crucial in Maine. Unlike in many states, Maine counties do not have their own health departments.

“The state is entirely in charge,” Pettingill said. “We don’t have anything else.”

Pinette, who specializes in internal medicine, is assuming Sears’ role while the job remains vacant.

Julie Sullivan, acting director of the Portland Health and Human Services Department, said Pinette does not have the experience to do the work of an epidemiologist. Besides, Pinette is busy managing the Maine CDC, she said.

“We are concerned. These are really important positions,” Sullivan said. “Flu season is coming up.”

Pinette said the top epidemiologist job is mostly a public education position and is not involved with treatment of infectious diseases.

“The federal (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) is only a phone call away, and we have been working with infectious disease specialists around the state,” Pinette said. “We had a good interim plan in place.”

Meanwhile, LePage on Thursday touted the state’s plan to respond to Ebola.

“The Maine CDC has elevated its monitoring in light of the recent Ebola developments in Texas and is in constant contact with its federal counterparts,” he said in a written statement. “We have taken additional steps to ensure to the best of our ability that any suspected cases in Maine will be reported immediately and effective action taken to the extent the law allows to minimize all risk to the public health and safety,”

LePage wrote that the Maine CDC will be taking close note of the travel history of patients to help prevent the spread of Ebola.

Although Ebola is a concern, Pettingill said, more common diseases like influenza and pertussis affect many people in Maine and need to be monitored closely.