Posted on 10/29/2014 6:31:00 PM PDT by DouglasKC
LANSING, MI – There are 10 individuals in Michigan who are being monitored for potential Ebola exposure, according to the Michigan Department of Community Health (MDCH).
“We’re working with the local health departments to monitor, it’s actually 10 individuals now who are at low risk of Ebola right now,” said MDCH spokesperson Jennifer Smith.
Low risk means that these people have no known exposure to Ebola, no symptoms and are in generally good health. What makes them a risk at all is they have traveled to regions of Africa where the virus exists.
Ebola is a virus that presents with flu-like symptoms, is spread through contact with body fluids and has affected the African countries of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 94 percent of passengers from those countries come into five airports: Washington-Dulles, Newark, JFK international Airport in New York, Chicago-O’Hare and Atlanta.
While none of those airports are located in Michigan, some people who have come from the West African region on flights through those airports are now in Michigan.
“These are individuals that we became aware of through the screening process at the airports,” Smith said.
Under recently updated CDC guidelines released Monday, state and local health departments are advised to actively or directly monitor potential Ebola exposure, rather than having people monitor themselves.
Smith said the 10 individuals are contacted twice daily to monitor for symptoms, but their movement is not restricted. They are monitored for 21 days past their potential for exposure. Ebola’s incubation period is between two and 21 days.
The MDCH is not releasing information on where in Michigan the monitoring is occurring.
“There isn’t a new or increased risk to the general public at this time, and for privacy reasons we are not disclosing the specific locations,” Smith said.
Kent County officials on Oct. 24 disclosed the monitoring of one person. Oakland County on Oct. 17 said one individual was self-monitoring.
There are no cases being monitored in Ingham County, Health Officer Linda Vail said.
The state and local health departments are following CDC standards in this monitoring, Smith said.
Thanks very much for the post; ping. Health/life BUMP!
Thanks for the graphs, Diogenesis. Very interesting. Health/life BUMP!
It's a disease that is currently killing 70% of everyone who gets it. It spreads like the common cold virus and there is no cure or no vaccine. They're not exactly hiding this, but reading between the lines this is exactly what's happening.
They’re not Lame but, this whole ebola thing is.
So far 99.8% of these suspected cases turn out to be nuttin.
So far. But meanwhile Ebola is still raging out of control and it's only a matter of time until it happens here.
Obama will be thrown out in 2016, right? This means that unless Republicans hire the most worthless candidate (likely of Jeb is nominated) then this means that the Republicans can get the entire White House and Congress locked up and sealed for the next couple of centuries.
Agreed
Hey Nully, please add me to your ebola ping list.
Is anyone keeping a map or list of cities we’re there are possible ebola victims? Be nice to monitor the spread of this.
Plus there’s the fact that this administration has a bad habit of locking down bad news until after elections.
Welcome aboard! It is a very busy ping list, if it gets overwhelming just let me know and I’ll remove you, won’t be offended in the slightest.
Prepare to start drinking from the fire hose...
Any idea why a county health dept nurse would call and request to speak to the risk management person of a hospital? I have my suspicions, but would like to hear your thoughts -— you apparently are somewhere in the healthcare circle.
Did not consider it a rant at all. Facts are hard things that some folks don’t want to face
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