'I want to grieve': Louise Troh, 54,
was confined when she learned her fiance Thomas Eric Duncan had died of
Ebola on October 8 - but is now free
The
first 48 people to be quarantined in the wake of Ebola landing in the
US have now been given the all-clear after showing no symptoms of the
deadly disease.
All
48 were sealed off from contact with other humans after it was revealed
that Thomas Eric Duncan, the first man to be diagnosed with the virus
on U.S. soil, had come into contact with them.
Among
the group are Louise Troh, Duncan's fiancée, and her children, and
friends and family members who has been kept under armed guard at a
secret location in Dallas.
Most
of the others were health workers who had contact with Duncan when he
arrived at Texas Health Presbyterian hospital in Dallas on the day he
was diagnosed with Ebola, sparking fears across the country that the
virus would spread.
When
the clock struck 10pm on Sunday night, it marked three weeks from the
date that Duncan was finally admitted to the hospital. Everyone who came
into contact with him before that is now in the clear.
Since Duncan died on October 8, two more people have contracted Ebola.
Nurses
Nina Pham, 26, and Amber Vinson, 29, were both involved with caring for
Duncan and are now themselves being treated in isolation units in
hospitals.
Federal officials are meanwhile ramping up readiness to deal with future cases.
A top
government official said revised guidance instructs health workers
treating Ebola patients to wear protective gear 'with no skin showing.'
The Pentagon said it is forming a team to support civilian medical staff
in the U.S.
In
Dallas, Louise Troh and several friends and family members are now free
to leave a stranger's home where they have been confined under armed
guard for 21 days — the maximum incubation period for Ebola.
Troh said: 'I want to breathe, I want to really grieve, I want privacy with my family'.
She
added: 'Even though the quarantine is over, our time of mourning is not
over. Because of that, we ask to be given privacy as we seek to rebuild
our home, our family and our daily living. We will not give any
interviews at this time. I do have a story to tell, and I look forward
to telling it in my own way at the right time.'
She
added: 'Our hearts also go out to the two brave women who have been
infected by this terrible disease as they were trying to help him. We
are also aware of how much this has affected many other people of my
city, Dallas, and my country, the United States of America, even as it
has in the country of my birth, Liberia.'
'Patient zero': The 48 were
quarantined because of their contact with Thomas Eric Duncan, who was
diagnosed with Ebola in Texas and became the first person to die of the
disease in the U.S.
Also
released: Youngor Jallah (left), Troh's daughter, and her partner Aaron
Yah (right) were in isolation as well - and have now been released
She emerges from quarantine with 'nothing.'
During
the frantic operation to seal off her apartment where Duncan stayed in
Dallas and eliminate all traces of the disease, she also lost the
majority of her belongings.
Only a few personal documents, some photographs, and a single Bible escaped the cleansing operation.
'They
were left with nothing. They are completely devastated by this, so
there's need to have their lives rebuilt,' her pastor George Mason
said.
Troh
described Dallas health care workers and officials as 'angels from God'
for the way they cared for her and her family during their three-week
quarantine, ABC News reported.
She
added that she hoped 'that God will bring healing to all in our
community soon,' but said that as happy as she and her family are that
their ordeal is coming to an end, 'our happiness is mixed with sadness'.
The
incubation period also hasange passed for about a dozen health workers
who encountered Duncan when he went to the Dallas hospital for the first
time, on September 25.
Duncan was sent home but returned by ambulance on September 28 and was admitted. Pham and Vinson followed later.
Vinson's
family issued a statement Sunday saying they have hired a lawyer and
are troubled by comments and media coverage that 'mischaracterize'
Vinson, who is being treated at Emory University in Atlanta.
Vinson 'has not and would not knowingly expose herself or anyone else,' the statement says.
Dallas
County and federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention officials
cleared her to fly last week to Dallas from Ohio, and 'suggestions that
she ignored any of the physician and government-provided protocols
recommended to her are patently untrue and hurtful,' the family says.
Friends and family: Relatives
including Duncan's mother Garteh Korkoryah, center, are pictured above
at a North Carolina memorial service, which Troh and her family missed
because of the quarantine
On
Sunday, a Carnival Cruise Lines ship returned to Galveston, Texas, from a
seven-day trip marred by worries over a health worker on board who was
being monitored for Ebola. The lab supervisor had handled a specimen
from Duncan and isolated herself on the ship as a precaution.
About
4,000 passengers on the cruise had to miss a stop in Cozumel, Mexico,
where the boat was not allowed to dock because of the scare. Carnival
said it was informed by U.S. health authorities Sunday morning that the
worker tested negative for Ebola.
Dr.
Anthony Fauci, head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious
Diseases, said those caring for Duncan were vulnerable because some of
their skin was exposed.
The
CDC is working on revisions to safety protocols. Earlier ones, Fauci
said, were based on a World Health Organization model for care in remote
places, often outdoors, and without intensive training for health
workers.
'So there were parts about that protocol that left vulnerability, parts of the skin that were open,' Fauci said.
Health
officials had previously allowed hospitals some flexibility to use
available covering when dealing with suspected Ebola patients.
The
new guidelines are expected to set firmer standards: calling for
full-body suits and hoods that protect worker's necks; setting rigorous
rules for removal of equipment and disinfection of hands; and requiring a
'site manager' to supervise the putting on and taking off of equipment.
Epicenter: Duncan went to Texas Health
Presbyterian hospital in Dallas when he was suffering from Ebola. Many
of those quarantined were health workers who dealt with him
The
guidelines also are expected to require a 'buddy system' in which
workers check each other as they come in and go out, according to an
official who was familiar with the guidelines but not authorized to
discuss them before their release.
Hospital workers also will be expected to exhaustively practice getting in and out of the equipment, the official said.
Nurses
have been clamoring for more guidance and better garb, saying they have
never cared for Ebola patients before and feel unprepared and
underequipped.
'If
hospital administrators had to take care of Ebola patients, they would
have the gold standard and hazmat suits,' said RoseAnn DeMoro, executive
director of National Nurses United, a union with 185,000 members.
In some places where they have the suits, nurses have not practiced taking them on and off.
'The
hospital is sending them essentially a link to the CDC website. That's
not preparation. That's like a do-it-yourself manual,' DeMoro said.
On
Sunday the Pentagon announced that Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel had
ordered the formation of a 30-person military support team to assist
civilian medical professionals in the U.S. to treat Ebola.
The
team will be formed by Northern Command's Commander, Gen. Chuck Jacoby,
and will comprise 20 critical care nurses, five doctors trained in
infectious disease and five trainers in infectious disease protocols.
Once formed, the team will undergo up to a week of specialized training
in infection control and personal protective equipment at Fort Sam
Houston in San Antonio, Texas, then remain in 'prepare to deploy' status
for 30 days.
The
team won't be sent overseas, and will 'be called upon domestically only
if deemed prudent by our public health professionals,' Pentagon press
secretary Rear Adm. John Kirby said in a statement.
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