10 People Contacts Ebola Through Mr Duncan are Now in Isolation

This news is posted according to Sky News Report. The condition of a Liberian man - the first person in the US to be diagnosed with the ebola virus - has become critical as 10 people who came into contact with him remain in isolation in the US.

Mr Duncan pictured had come into contact with an Ebola victim in Liberia

The hospital in Texas treating Thomas Eric Duncan has issued a statement confirming his condition had deteriorated, as authorities dealt with some 100 inquiries from people who thought they might also have the disease.

Mr Duncan's ebola diagnosis was the first in the US and raised concerns the disease could spread there after killing more than 3,000 people in West Africa.

 

He arrived in the country on 20 September after a 28-hour journey from Liberia via Brussels that spanned three flights and three continents.

Mr Duncan, who is being treated at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital, was initially sent home with antibiotics after his first visit to A&E, despite telling a nurse he had returned from Liberia.

Authorities Cleaning Up Duncan's Residence in the Us

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has identified 10 people who had contact with Mr Duncan and who may have been exposed to the virus. They have been placed under isolation, and an additional 40 are being monitored though none have yet shown symptoms.

A family who hosted Mr Duncan and who were subsequently placed in a quarantined apartment, have now been allowed to leave the building.


Liberian authorities have announced plans to prosecute Mr Duncan when he returns, accusing him of lying to airport officials about not having any contact with an infected person.

Dr Thomas Frieden, director of the CDC, said the case had raised awareness among US hospitals to check patients for potential risks, particularly those from the disease epicentre in West Africa.

On Saturday, officials dressed in biohazard suits escorted two passengers off a plane in New Jersey because they were believed to be from Liberia and exhibiting signs of illness during the flight.

Days before flying to Texas, Mr Duncan had helped a pregnant woman in Liberia who later died of ebola, a fact he concealed from Liberian airport officials before boarding the plane.


An airport official was quoted by newspapers as saying CDC officials did not believe the pair - a man and his daughter - were sick with ebola. The official added that all other passengers on the flight from Brussels were cleared to leave the plane.

The governments of Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia are struggling to contain the worst outbreak on record of the deadly hemorrhagic fever.

 

The World Health Organisation on Friday updated its death toll from the virus to at least 3,439 out of 7,492 suspected, probable or confirmed cases.