US worker who is not sick sent home over Ebola fear
A member of staff from the US Centers for Disease Control who worked in close proximity to someone infected by the deadly Ebola virus in West Africa has been flown back home to Atlanta by charter jet to monitor potential symptoms, officials said.
The worker had “low-risk” contact with someone who later tested positive for the virus in Sierra Leone, said Tom Skinner, a spokesman at the Atlanta-based CDC.
“The worker is not sick, not showing symptoms, not showing any signs of illness whatsoever,” Mr Skinner said.
They worked within three feet (less than a metre) of the ill international health worker in the same room for a prolonged period of time, according to a CDC statement. The staffer practised “good personal infection control”, according to the CDC. The agency did not identify the worker.
The CDC worker arrived in Atlanta yesterday and is at home, Mr Skinner said. They are expected to be checked for fever twice each day for 21 days as a precaution, he added.
The specially-equipped jet that was used to transport American aid workers Nancy Writebol and Dr Kent Brantly to Atlanta after they tested positive for Ebola was not used for the CDC staffer, Mr Skinner said. Instead, the worker travelled on a more standard charter plane. Ms Writebol and Dr Brantly were released from Emory University Hospital this month.
The World Health Organisation said today that the Ebola outbreak in West Africa eventually could exceed 20,000 cases, more than six times as many as are now known.
To fight the outbreak, more than 60 CDC personnel are in the region, though the numbers fluctuate as staffers rotate in and out of hard-hit areas, according to the agency.
