Liberians Leaving Ebola Struck Country

Liberians are apparently flooding Roberts International Airport in Harbel, Liberia, in an attempt to flee the Ebola-struck country, raising fears that more people infected with Ebola will fly into America.

Thomas Eric Duncan, the 40-year-old Liberian national who was diagnosed with Ebola a few days after arriving in Dallas, Texas, may have started a trend of “Ebola tourism” in which Liberians leave their country to seek better treatment for the disease.
“That’s not something we should be encouraging or allowing,” Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, told the Washington Times.
Overall, around 200,000 people from the West African countries hit hardest by Ebola hold temporary visas to the U.S., but the Obama administration has rejected calls to enact a visa ban.
“Based on State Department nonimmigrant visa issuance statistics, I estimate that there are about 5,000 people in Guinea, 5,000 people in Sierra Leone, and 3,500 people in Liberia who possess visas to come to the United States today,” Jessica M. Vaughan, director of policy studies at the Center for Immigration Studies, told the Washington Examiner.
Temporary visas given to Nigerians have recently skyrocketed, with nearly 195,000 Nigerians currently holding visas, she added.
The Obama administration has similarly refused to impose a ban on travel from the Ebola hot zone into the U.S., despite pressure from a Florida Democrat and the fact that other countries have enacted similar bans.
Back in July, Rep. Alan Grayson (D-Fla.) suggested the State Dept. ban citizens from Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone from entering the U.S. and foreign travelers who have visited those countries in the previous 90 days.
Grayson grew concerned after an American who contracted Ebola in Liberia died in Nigeria after flying into the country through an international airport.

Second Person Being Monitored For Ebola Virus

DALLAS — Health officials are closely monitoring a possible second Ebola patient who had close contact with the first person to be diagnosed in the U.S., the director of Dallas County's health department said Wednesday.
All who have been in close contact with the man officially diagnosed are being monitored as a precaution, Zachary Thompson, director of Dallas County Health and Human Services, said in a morning interview with WFAA-TV.
"Let me be real frank to the Dallas County residents: The fact that we have one confirmed case, there may be another case that is a close associate with this particular patient," he said. "So this is real. There should be a concern, but it's contained to the specific family members and close friends at this moment."
The director continued to assure residents that the public isn't at risk because health officials have the virus contained.
UNANSWERED: Why did hospital send Ebola patient home without diagnosis?
USA NOW VIDEO: Few medical options for American Ebola patients
TRAVEL: Health officials see low risk of Ebola on flights
OUTREACH: U.S. troops head to Africa for Ebola mission
5 THINGS: 5 things What you need to know about Ebola
On Tuesday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed a patient at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas was the first person to be diagnosed in the United States with the Ebola virus.
Thomas Eric Duncan left Liberia on Sept. 19 and arrived in Dallas the following day.

Zachary Taylor, director of Dallas County's health department, discusses precautions being taken after a patient in the Texas city was diagnosed Sept. 30, 2014, with Ebola.(Photo: WFAA-TV, Dallas-Fort Worth)

On Sept. 26, he sought treatment at the hospital after becoming ill but was sent home with a prescription for antibiotics. Duncan's sister, Mai Wureh, said he notified officials that he was visiting from Liberia when they asked for his Social Security number and he told them he didn't have one.
Two days later, he was admitted with more critical symptoms, after requiring an ambulance ride to the hospital.
The patient, whose condition was upgraded to serious Wednesday, was in contact with several children before he was hospitalized and had been staying at a northeast Dallas apartment complex, health officials here said.
Each of those children have been kept home from school and are under precautionary monitoring, Thompson said.
The Dallas County school district officials said they are working closely with health officials.
"They are consulting with the county on any additional action that may need to be taken during the course of investigation," district spokesman Jon Dahlander said in a statement. "This is part of routine emergency operations during a health incident in the county. This is same protocol taken during things like flu and tuberculosis cases."
More than a half a dozen CDC employees arrived in Dallas after news of the diagnosis broke. The CDC and Dallas County are working together in what they call a contact investigation.
3 REASONS: Why an Ebola outbreak in the USA is highly unlikely
TUESDAY: Dallas hospital diagnoses first patient with Ebola
Anyone who has had contact with the patient, including emergency room staff, will be under health officials' observation for 21 days. If any of those being monitored show symptoms, they'll be placed in isolation.
The three paramedics who transported the patient in Dallas are temporarily off duty and among those under observation.

Children who had contact with American Ebola Patient Are Beinng Monitored

DALLAS (AP) -- Texas Gov. Rick Perry says a handful of school-aged children who had contact with a man diagnosed with Ebola are being monitored.

Perry says health officials learned Wednesday that the children have been identified as having contact with the man and are being monitored at home. The unidentified man has been in isolation at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas since Sunday.

The man is the first person to be diagnosed with Ebola in the U.S. Health authorities have not revealed his nationality or age. He was listed in serious condition Wednesday.

Authorities say the ambulance crew who transported the man and members of his family are among the 12 to 18 people being monitored after exposure to the man