Dallas health workers who treated Ebola case banned from travel

Austin (Texas), Oct 17 (IANS/EFE) The authorities in Dallas have ordered 75 health workers who attended a patient who died of the Ebola virus to not use public transport.

Doctors and nurses must sign a legal document agreeing to the order, Dallas county judge Clay Jenkins said Thursday after a meeting where authorities declined to declare a state of emergency in the Texas city.

"There hasn't been a need to use extraordinary powers or put people under some sort of special law," Jenkins said regarding the state of emergency.

The people affected by the measure are 75 health workers who, along with infected nurses Nina Pham and Amber Vinson, attended the Liberian patient Thomas Eric Duncan who died of the virus Oct 8.

Although the authorities have not said how long the public transport ban will last, the monitoring of individuals at risk is 21 days, so it could be extended for the next two weeks.

In addition to the 75 health workers, the authorities are observing around 40 more people who were in contact with Duncan before he was admitted to the hospital, and 132 passengers who shared a commercial flight with Vinson Monday.

Vinson was taken to Emory University Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia.

--IANS/EFE

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