Few details offered on Ebola quarantines

Associated Press

NEW YORK

A nurse who treated Ebola patients in Sierra Leone is the first test case of quarantine policies now in effect in three states over heightened fears the deadly virus could be spread by health care workers returning to the United States.

But the sketchy details of how such quarantines will be handled drew sharp criticism from humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders while infectious disease experts said many of the logistics about enforcement are likely still up in the air.

Kaci Hickox, a Doctors Without Borders nurse, remained isolated at a hospital Saturday, a day after she returned to the U.S. and the governors of New York, New Jersey and Illinois announced mandatory 21-day quarantines for arriving travelers who had contact with Ebola patients in West Africa.

Health officials said Hickox was transported to a hospital after running a fever, but the nurse told the Dallas Morning News she was merely flushed because she was upset by a quarantine process she described as treating her like a criminal.

“This is not a situation I would wish on anyone, and I am scared for those who will follow me,” Hickox wrote in an essay for the newspaper.

Health officials said preliminary tests for Ebola came back negative for Hickox but Newark University Hospital would not say if she would be released for the balance of the quarantine period or remain in the hospital.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, campaigning Saturday in Iowa for a fellow Republican, said he sympathizes for Hickox but said he has to do what he can to ensure public health safety.

“My heart goes out to her,” the governor said, while also noting that state and local health officials would make sure quarantine rules are enforced. He said the New Jersey State Police will not be involved.

Dr. Irwin Redlener, a Columbia University professor and director of the New York-based National Center for Disaster Preparedness, said the logistics of such a policy are “a problem.”