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Texas
health worker isolated on cruise ship over possible Ebola contact
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[October 17, 2014]
(Reuters) - A Texas health worker
who may have had contact with specimens from the first patient diagnosed
with Ebola in the United States has been isolated on a cruise ship
despite showing no symptoms of the disease, the Department of State said
on Friday.
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 The Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital worker, who did not have
direct contact with now deceased Liberian patient Thomas Eric Duncan
but could have processed his bodily fluids 19 days ago, left on a
cruise from Galveston on Sunday, department spokeswoman Jen Psaki
said in a statement.
U.S. concerns have intensified after two nurses from the Dallas
hospital who cared for Duncan contracted the virus, which has killed
nearly 4,500 people, mostly in West Africa. President Barack Obama's
administration is facing sharp criticism from lawmakers over its
efforts to contain the disease at home.
The employee has been self-monitoring since last Monday and has yet
to develop a fever or show any other symptom of Ebola, the statement
said. The worker and a companion voluntarily isolated themselves in
their cabin, and U.S. officials are arranging for the ship to return
to the country.
"We are working with the cruise line to safely bring them back to
the United States out of an abundance of caution," Psaki said in the
statement.
The person left the country before being notified of the U.S.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) updated
requirement for active monitoring, the statement said.
The Government of Belize said in a statement hours earlier that it
had denied a request by U.S. officials to use a Belizean airport to
transport a cruise ship passenger considered to be a very low risk
for Ebola.
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"The passenger never set foot in Belize," the statement said. "When
even the smallest doubt remains, we will ensure the health and
safety of the Belizean people."
The maximum incubation window for the disease is 21 days, according
to the CDC.
(Reporting by Curtis Skinner; Editing by Dominic Evans)
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