US health officials said yesterday that after conversations with 100 people who might have been exposed to the Ebola patient in Texas, about 50 are now being observed daily for symptoms of the deadly virus.
Of the 50, about 10 are considered at high risk, while the rest are considered at low risk, Dr David Lakey, commissioner of the Texas Department of State Health Services, said in a news conference.
Dr Beth Bell of the US Centers for Disease Control said putting people in observation does not imply the CDC has a “high level of concern” about them.
Meanwhile, NBC News yesterday identified a freelance cameraman who contracted Ebola in Liberia as 33-year-old Ashoka Mukpo, who had been working with Dr Nancy Snyderman, the network’s top medical correspondent.
Mukpo is the fourth American known to have contracted the disease in Liberia. Speaking on NBC, the parents of Mukpo said their son was in good spirits.
“Obviously he is scared and worried,” the father, Dr Mitchell Levy said. Mr Mukpo will be flown back to the US this weekend. – Reuters/New York Times