Ebola

A Texas Health Presbyterian employee who may have handled fluid samples from Duncan has been placed in quarantine on a Carnival cruise ship in the Caribbean. State Department’s Jen Psaki:

The employee … may have had contact with clinical specimens collected from him. The individual was out of the country before being notified of CDC’s updated requirements for active monitoring. At the time the hospital employee left the country, CDC was requiring only self-monitoring.

A doctor on the cruise ship has declared the woman symptom-free and in good health. She handled the fluid samples 19 days ago, and has two more days until passing the 21-day threshold for Ebola incubation. The ship is being held off the coast of Belize until she can be removed and returned to the U.S.

A Dallas lab worker, thought to have handled specimens from Thomas Eric Duncan, is quarantined aboard a cruise ship off the coast of Belize. The Belize coast guard refuses to allow the ship to dock or passengers to disembark. Carnival Cruise Lines:

At no point in time has the individual exhibited any symptoms or signs of infection and it has been 19 days since she was in the lab with the testing samples. She is deemed by CDC to be very low risk. At this time, the guest remains in isolation on board the ship and is not deemed to be a risk to any guests or crew. It is important to reiterate that the individual has no symptoms and has been isolated in an extreme abundance of caution. We are in close contact with the CDC and at this time it has been determined that the appropriate course of action is to simply keep the guest in isolation on board.

Belize government:

The government of Belize reassures the public that the passenger never set foot in Belize and while we remain in close contact with U.S. officials we have maintained the position that when even the smallest doubt remains, we will ensure the health and safety of the Belizean people.

The Independent reports that 4,000 children in west Africa have been orphaned by the virus, and that number could rise as the UN predicts 10,000 new cases per week. It reports that last month, two children orphaned by the virus starved to death, as aid workers weren’t able to reach them. The newspaper interviews the head of the Street Child charity, who says food prices have risen by up to 100% in Ebola-affected areas of the country, and people are afraid to go out to the fields or to market. Especially in places under quarantine, this leaves people vulnerable:

Life in those districts – it’s like holding your breath: you can do it for a while, but you can’t do it for huge periods. It’s the most vulnerable that reach the sharp end first.

The CDC advises residents of New York City to prepare in a report titled Surveillance and Preparedness for Ebola Virus Disease — New York City, 2014. (Report available here) . It says the city remains Ebola-free but advises officials on what to look for and what to do if the virus is detected. The Department of Health and Mental Hygiene has identified 88 people arriving from the Ebola nations thought to have symptoms of the virus. All were cleared, but some diagnoses were delayed as lab workers were reluctant to handle specimens. Report:

New York City is a frequent port of entry for travelers from West Africa, a home to communities of West African immigrants who travel back to their home countries, and a home to healthcare workers who travel to West Africa to treat Ebola patients

A photo shows an unidentified passenger at Washington Dulles wearing a hazmat suit while waiting for a flight. The transparent blue plastic suit does not cover her wrists.

Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins, who is overseeing the Ebola response, says the county Medical Director will sign a control order that will follow minimum guidelines outlined by the CDC blocking people being monitored for Ebola symptoms from using public transportation, including buses and airliners. He says workers weren’t instructed by Presbyterian or the CDC to stay away from the public during the 21-day monitoring period.

No one told them, which is something that is profoundly disappointing to me, but this is something that we’ve got to fix quickly. We cannot have people on common carriers like DART trains, airplanes or buses who might get sick.