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 In Texas, a lab worker who spent much of a Caribbean holiday cruise
in isolation tested negative for the deadly virus and left the
Carnival Magic liner with other passengers after it docked at
Galveston early on Sunday morning.
The new guidelines for healthcare workers and the precautions taken
for the cruise passenger reflected widespread anxiety over Ebola in
the United States, including calls from some lawmakers for a travel
ban on West Africa.
The worst outbreak on record of the virus has killed more than 4,500
people, mostly in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea.
Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf urged stronger
international action to control the epidemic, saying on Sunday the
disease was unleashing an economic catastrophe that will leave a
"lost generation" of young West Africans.
Belgium announced on Sunday it would screen people arriving at its
largest airport from West Africa for signs of fever. In Spain, the
government said Teresa Romero, the nurse who contracted Ebola while
caring for two infected priests, appeared to be free of the disease.
The new guidelines being developed by the U.S. Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention would increase protection for medical workers
caring for Ebola patients. The new measures were prompted by anxiety
after two nurses were infected with the virus, which is spread by
contact with bodily fluids of sick people and so makes health
workers especially vulnerable.
Health workers would be told to cover hair and skin completely, said
Anthony Fauci, director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy
and Infectious Diseases. The old guidelines, modeled after World
Health Organization protocols, said workers should wear masks but
"did have some exposure of the skin," he said.
In addition to the new protocols, the U.S. military plans to create
an emergency response team of infectious disease doctors, nurses and
trainers to help in the event of an Ebola crisis in the United
States. The team would not be deployed in West Africa or elsewhere
overseas.
END OF MONITORING
The first person to be diagnosed with the disease in the United
States was Thomas Eric Duncan, a Liberian who fell ill while
visiting Dallas last month. He died on Oct. 8, and two nurses who
treated him were infected. This triggered a lengthy watch list of
people who had had possible contact with them.
At midnight, 48 people who might have been in contact with Duncan
will no longer require monitoring for signs of the virus, health
officials say.
On Monday, more were expected to end 21 days of monitoring, the
incubation period for the virus.
They would include Duncan's fiance, Louise Troh, her 13-year-old son
and two other people who have been in mandatory quarantine at an
undisclosed location in Dallas.
"We are so happy this is coming to an end, and we are so grateful
that none of us has shown any sign of illness," Troh said in a
statement on Sunday. She said she was still grieving for Duncan, who
was the father of another son.
"We continue to mourn his loss and grieve the circumstances that led
to his death, just at the time we thought we were facing a happy
future together."
There are still 75 health workers in Dallas who have isolated
themselves and are being monitored.
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'SCARY'
The lab worker who was being monitored aboard the Carnival Magic
worked at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital, where Duncan was
treated. The ship arrived at Galveston after a weeklong cruise that
included being denied docking by Belize and Mexico because of the
presence of the woman on board.
"It was scary. It was really very worrying," said passenger Regina
Sargent of Dallas.
The lab worker, who has not been named, did not have contact with
Duncan but was under observation as she might have come into contact
with test samples from him.
She voluntarily isolated herself in her cabin and her blood sample
was flown by helicopter for testing. "The lab testing done was
negative," said Coast Guard Lieutenant Sam Danus.
Officials in Dallas, where nurses Nina Pham and Amber Vinson were
infected, have urged residents to stay calm. "This is a critical
weekend," Clay Jenkins, Dallas County's top official, said in an
interview on ABC's "This Week." If there are no new patients, he
said, Dallas is "going to be statistically less likely" to see new
cases.
A series of Ebola scares has rattled the United States since Duncan
was diagnosed. Americans' faith in the medical system and in its
disease prevention ability was jolted by early missteps in his case.
In a public letter on Saturday night, Texas Health Resources Chief
Executive Barclay Berdan acknowledged that Texas Health
Presbyterian, where Duncan first went, made mistakes, including
initially not diagnosing Ebola.
Berdan said aggressive actions since then ensured that the hospital
was a safe place, and that outside experts would be consulted to
determine how the two nurses became infected.
Vinson is being treated at Atlanta's Emory University Hospital,
while Pham is being treated at the National Institutes of Health
outside Washington.
Fauci said he had a long conversation with Pham on Saturday.
“She's in good spirits,” Fauci told "Fox News Sunday." Asked whether
she would recover, he said, "I'm feeling good about the fact that
she's progressing very well."
(Additional reporting by Richard Cowan, Sarah N. Lynch, Phil Stewart
and Marina Lopes in Washington, Anna Driver and Jon Herskovitz in
Texas and Foo Yun Chee in Brussels; Writing by Frances Kerry and Jim
Loney; Editing by Crispian Balmer and Eric Walsh)
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