Dallas, along with the entire state of Texas, is now Ebola-free. Texas has now cleared 177 people who were suspected and monitored for the deadly Ebola virus.
The latest outbreak that started early this year in West Africa reached the U.S. after Thomas Eric Duncan, a Liberian citizen who came to the U.S. with the plan of settling in America, was infected with Ebola. Duncan was sent back home after he visited a health clinic with flu-like symptoms. However, within a couple of days, he had to be hospitalized. Doctors later confirmed he had Ebola.
Duncan died of the disease and became the first and so far the only casualty in the U.S.
Health officials also tracked about 50 people who were in contact with Duncan. Two nurses, Amber Vinson and Nina Pham, who were taking care of Duncan, were also infected with Ebola. Not knowing she was infected, Vinson traveled to Ohio. Doctors confirmed she had Ebola after she returned to Dallas.
The passengers who traveled with Vinson were also screened for Ebola and were cleared. A school and a bridal store Vinson visited were also closed and disinfected.
Health officials in Texas claim that they monitored 177 people, which included household members, health care workers and others who were in contact with Vinson, Pham or Duncan to ensure they were not infected with Ebola.
After Pham's and Vinson's infection, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released an updated protocol for health care workers. The CDC highlighted that nurses, doctors and caregivers of Ebola patients were at higher risks of contracting the disease and that they should be more cautious while putting on and taking off their personal protective equipment.
Health officials in the state have also expressed relief after the end of Ebola scare in Dallas.
"We're happy to reach this milestone, but our guard stays up," says Dr. David Lakey, commissioner of the Texas Department of State Health Services.
Even though only a handful of people had been treated for Ebola in the U.S., the federal health agency is on alert to restrict the spread of disease in the country.
Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone remain the countries hardest-hit by Ebola in West Africa. The disease has infected thousands of people and killed more than 4,500 patients in these countries.
The World Health Organization is working hard with multinational pharmaceutical companies to develop a drug to vaccinate against Ebola, which is expected to be rolled out in 2015.
