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DW
The World Health Organization (WHO) declared Nigeria Ebola-free on Monday, after a 42-day period with no new cases. The 42 days represent two incubation periods for the virus."The virus is gone for now," WHO country representative Rui Gama Vaz said Monday in the capital, Abuja. "The outbreak in Nigeria has been defeated. This is a spectacular success story that shows to the world that Ebola can be contained."
On July 25, Nigeria's Health Ministry had confirmed that a US-Liberian dual citizen had died of Ebola in Lagos and quickly tracked down and isolated all who had had contact with the man, whose condition was caught at the airport.
Al Jazeera
A total of 120 people are still being monitored for Ebola infection due to possible contact with one of three people diagnosed with the disease in Dallas, health officials in Texas said Monday as they noted that dozens more had being cleared of having the virus.Some 43 people on the original watch list have now passed the 21-day incubation period for the disease and are in the clear, the officials said.
“There's zero risk that any of those people who have been marked off the list have Ebola. They were in contact with a person who had Ebola and the time period for them to get Ebola has lapsed. It is over. They do not have Ebola,” Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins said at a news conference.
But others who cared for the three known cases in Dallas — Thomas Eric Duncan, the Liberian man who died of Ebola on Oct. 8 at a Dallas hospital, and two nurses who tended to Duncan, Amber Vinson and Nina Pham — remain at risk. Nov. 7 is when the wait period will end for all of those being monitored.
The Guardian
The first wave of people who may have had contact with Thomas Eric Duncan have been declared Ebola-free after 21 days of twice-daily temperature checks, bringing welcome news to a Dallas hospital that was sent into a tailspin by the discovery of the virus.At least 43 of the 48 people who may have come into contact with Duncan, the first person to be diagnosed with Ebola in the US, are no longer at risk of developing the virus, the Texas department of health announced in a statement Monday. Duncan died from Ebola on 8 October.
“Epidemiologists have worked around the clock to call and visit people who may have had any exposure, to make sure they were asymptotic and doing well,” Texas state health commissioner Dr David Lakey said in a statement.
“I’m happy we can tell people they are free and clear of monitoring. It provides a measure of relief and reassurance.”
New York Times
GALVESTON, Tex. — In the end, there was never any risk of the Ebola virus aboard what became known as the Ebola Cruise.Last week, the announcement that a passenger on the Carnival Magic was a Dallas lab supervisor who had handled an Ebola patient’s blood samples transformed a weeklong Caribbean jaunt into a high-seas drama showcasing anxieties over the spread of the virus. Passengers used hand sanitizer, avoided touching railings and offered elbow taps instead of handshakes.
As rumors swirled through the sun decks and dining rooms, the hospital worker and her husband agreed to quarantine themselves in their stateroom. Belize refused to allow the worker to be flown home through its international airport, and Mexico declined to let the ship’s passengers make a day trip to Cozumel. On Saturday afternoon, as the ship headed home, a Coast Guard helicopter swooped in to fetch a blood sample from the hospital worker, to cheers and applause from passengers.
Reuters
The United States issued stringent new protocols on Monday for health workers treating Ebola victims, directing medical teams to wear protective gear that leaves no skin or hair exposed to prevent medical workers from becoming infected.The new guidelines from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta come as 43 people who were exposed to the first patient diagnosed in the United States were declared risk free, easing a national sense of crisis that took hold after two Texas nurses who treated him contracted the disease.
Under new protocols, Ebola healthcare workers also must undergo special training and demonstrate competency in using protective equipment. Use of the gear, now including coveralls, and single-use, disposable hoods, must be overseen by a supervisor to ensure proper procedures are followed when caring for patients with Ebola, which is transmitted through direct contact with bodily fluids but is not airborne. (CDC protocols: Tightened Guidance for U.S. Healthcare Workers on Personal Protective Equipment for Ebola)