Two suspected Ebola cases hit the city of Boston. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has also issued Ebola precautions for healthcare workers, as well as ordinary citizens.
The latest Ebola outbreak has already affected thousands of people in West Africa and also resulted in the deaths of many people. However, the scare of the deadly disease has reached thousands of miles away in the U.S.
On Sunday, Oct. 12, a man who had recently traveled to Liberia, a West African country, visited a Boston medical clinic complaining of flu-like symptoms. Doctors suspected Ebola, and the man was escorted by police to Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) in Boston. The man's car was also plastered with orange bio-hazard signs.
Just a day later, a number of ambulances and medical crew surrounded an Emirates Airline flight that had arrived to the Boston Logan International Airport from Dubai. A group of medical experts dressed in protective suits boarded the aircraft after five people on-board the flight showed flu-like symptoms, which triggered an Ebola alert.
However, the Boston Public Health Commission (BPHC) has issued two separate statements to confirm that both the suspected Ebola cases in Boston did not meet the criteria for Ebola infection of public concern.
"After discussions with our partner hospitals Boston Medical Center and Massachusetts General Hospital, the Boston Public Health Commission's Infectious Disease Bureau has determined that the patients who arrived on United Emirates Flight #237 at Logan International Airport do not meet the criteria for any infections of public health concern, including Ebola," reads one of the statements.
These are not the first suspected cases of Ebola in the U.S. and a few people have also been successfully treated in the U.S. after contracting the Ebola virus while on a visit to an affected country. However, Ebola virus disease (EVD) has already killed thousands of people in Africa, which has raised high concern about the disease in the U.S.
The high risk of human-to-human transmission has also prompted the CDC to issue a preventive guideline for healthcare professionals dealing with suspected Ebola hospitalized patients in the U.S.
Check out the full infection prevention and control recommendations issued by CDC.
Mayo Clinic, a non-profit medical practice based in Minnesota, has also issued prevention guidelines for citizens that focuses on avoiding contact with the deadly virus. The prevention guidelines suggest that one avoid visiting infected areas of West Africa. As Ebola is an infectious disease, washing hands frequently is one of the most preventive ways to ward off the disease.
"Use soap and water, or use alcohol-based hand rubs containing at least 60 percent alcohol when soap and water aren't available," per Mayo Clinic.
Consumption of wild meat is very common in Africa. Mayo Clinic advices not to consume such meat sold in local African markets. Avoiding contact with infected people and not handle the dead bodies of the infected people are some the other guidelines issued by the Mayo Clinic.
