Guinea

WASHINGTON POST

By Todd C. Frankel                         October 14

....The Dallas nurse, 26-year old Nina Pham,who helped treat Thomas Eric Duncan, the Liberian man who was the first person diagnosed with the dreaded disease in the United States became the first – and so far only – person infected by Duncan. In the wake of her infection, U.S. health officials have pledged to review how future Ebola cases are handled.

But the case is also noteworthy for another, potentially positive reason: Nearly 50 people were exposed to Ebola before the nurse, and none of them has been diagnosed with the disease.

This group of neighbors, family members and first responders are being watched carefully by health authorities. They had some degree of close contact with Duncan during the four-day period when he was contagious – from when he started showing Ebola symptoms on Sept. 24 to when the hospital finally admitted him on Sept. 28. They didn’t take any Ebola-specific precautions. They didn’t know he was infected.... Yet, so far, they have not gotten sick. And their 21-day Ebola incubation period started before Pham’s.

Pictured here are the students in
Ms. Appel’s class in Houston, gathering information on the Ebola virus
from a Global Resilience System volunteer, Kathy Gilbeaux, with their website shown in the background. 
Photo Credit: Emma Goerges

On Thursday, a fifth grade class from an International Baccalaureate school in Houston sought answers to their questions regarding the Ebola virus. After a short period of investigating its symptoms, spread, and severity, the students were left with several unanswered questions. Specifically, the students continued to inquire about the origin of Ebola, details of its spread to Texas, in what ways the United States is helping, and Ebola treatment options.