The first case of ebola was reported in Dallas Texas on Tuesday October 1, 2014. Since I live in North Dallas, I have been following the story since the first day I heard it on the news.
According to several reports, the Ebola patient is a 42 year-old Liberian who came to the United States for the first time. However, efforts are being made to make sure that they locate everyone he came in contact with both in transit and when he arrived the States.
According to CNN:
“Duncan is a 42-year-old Liberian national, according to his friend. This is Duncan’s first trip to the United States, where he was visiting family and friends.
The Ebola patient told authorities he flew part of his trip on United Airlines, a spokesperson for the airline said, citing information from the CDC. The airline believes the patient flew from Brussels to Washington Dulles and then from Dulles to Dallas-Fort Worth on September 20, the spokesperson said.
“The director of the CDC has stated there is ‘zero risk of transmission’ on any flight on which the patient flew because he was not symptomatic until several days after his trip and could not have been contagious on the dates he traveled,” the spokesperson said.
Every person who travels by air is screened before departure and at arrival in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone, but because the man says he began feeling ill days after landing in the United States, a screening test in West Africa would likely have not turned up that he had Ebola.
However, it’s unclear what kind of screening someone flying from West Africa might receive when they land in the United States, Cohen said. The CNN correspondent and her crew recently reported in and flew from West Africa, where she said they were screened numerous times for Ebola by having their temperatures taken at the airport.
But when they arrived back in the United States, and asked travel officials about whether their temperatures would be taken or whether they’d be screened for Ebola, they were given unclear explanations about how the process worked and ultimately were not tested.
Regardless, the CDC maintains that passengers on planes with the Texas patient were likely not at risk because the man was not displaying active symptoms”.
You can read the full story Here
P.S
Please WASH your hands REGULARLY with SOAP and WATER, and sanitize your hand with hand sanitizer at every given opportunity.
May God continue to protect us from the deadly virus.
