State monitoring fewer people for Ebola symptoms

COLUMBUS

About two-thirds of the Ohioans who were being watched for signs of Ebola infection after having direct or tangential contact with a Texas nurse are no longer being subjected to state monitoring.

As of Monday morning, 52 of 160-plus people included on the former daily contact report by the Ohio Department of Health were still being checked. The other 100-plus were removed from the list after passing the 21-day period when signs of infection would have surfaced.

The updated list included one person in quarantine and one person being directly monitored by health officials.

All are expected to be removed from the list in the next 24 hours or so.

“The rest will come off tomorrow,” said Melanie Amato, spokeswoman for the Ohio Department of Health. “We don’t believe anyone will come down with symptoms.”

The state continues to keep tabs on about 30 other people who have traveled to countries in West Africa that are dealing with Ebola outbreaks.

The state late last week instituted stricter guidelines for monitoring travelers, including quarantining those who had direct contact with others infected with the virus.

As of Monday, no travelers were subject to the quarantine, and no signs of Ebola infection have been found in the state.