Texas checks 100 for Ebola exposure

Students leave Tasby Middle School, where a fellow classmate who was in contact with a man diagnosed with the Ebola virus had been removed from school in Dallas, Texas October 1, 2014. Photo: Reuters

As many as 100 people in Texas are being checked for potential exposure to Ebola, health officials have said.

Only 12-18 people including five children are known to have had direct contact with Ebola patient Thomas Eric Duncan, who contracted it in Liberia.

Four of his relatives have been ordered to stay home while they are watched for signs of the disease, officials say.

Duncan was diagnosed with the disease on Tuesday and is in a serious condition in hospital.

He was the first case diagnosed outside of Africa, where more than 3,300 have died in the Ebola outbreak.

'STRICT ORDER'

Leading charity Save the Children has warned that five new people are being infected with Ebola per hour in the west African country Sierra Leone, a rate that far outstrips the ability of local health facilities to contain the spread.

In Texas on Thursday, state health commissioner Dr David Lakey said four of Duncan's "close relatives" had been ordered to stay home and not receive visitors until 19 October.

"We have tried and true protocols to protect the public and stop the spread of this disease," Lakey said. "This order gives us the ability to monitor the situation in the most meticulous way."

His office said Duncan's relatives had previously been instructed to stay at home, but a "strict public health control order is needed to ensure compliance".

As many as 100 people had "potential or possible" contact with Duncan, the Texas Department of State Health Services said.

"Out of an abundance of caution, we're starting with this very wide net, including people who have had even brief encounters with the patient or the patient's home," spokesperson Carrie Williams said.

"The number will drop as we focus in on those whose contact may represent a potential risk of infection."

Five young children who were in contact with him have also been told to stay home from school.

INITIAL HOSPITAL VISIT

The disease, which is not contagious until symptoms appear, is spread via close contact with bodily fluids.

Duncan is thought to have contracted the virus in Liberia before he travelled to the US nearly two weeks ago to visit relatives.

He sought medical attention at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital on 25 September. Then hospital officials said he had a low-grade fever and abdominal pain. Basic blood tests were performed, but he was not screened for the Ebola virus.

A nurse asked Duncan if he had travelled from Africa, and he said he had, but that information was not fully communicated to the medical staff, an oversight the hospital now says it "regrets".

Duncan was given antibiotics and a pain reliever and sent home, where his condition worsened, says his sister.

On 28 September, a friend of Duncan's contacted the CDC for advice and was instructed to call the Texas Department of Health, which sent an ambulance.

The diagnosis was confirmed on 30 September.