Ebola in US: Liberia to prosecute Ebola patient for providing false information

By: Editorial Team | | Updated: October 3, 2014 10:20 am

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Reportedly, Ebola patient in Dallas, Texas lied on an airport questionnaire while leaving Liberia about not having any contact with an infected person. Liberia announced its plans to prosecute him for providing false information. Health authorities noted that he had filled out a series of questions about his health and activities before leaving on his journey to Dallas. When the form was obtained on September 19, the Associated Press found that he answered no to all of them. Also Read - Ebola death toll rises to 55 in DR Congo

The form included questions that asked whether Duncan had cared for an Ebola patient or touched the body of anyone who had died in an area affected by Ebola. ‘We expect people to do the honourable thing,’ said Binyah Kesselly, chairman of the board of directors of the Liberia Airport Authority in Monrovia. The agency obtained permission from the Ministry of Justice to pursue the matter.

Neighbors in the Liberian capital believe Duncan become infected when he helped bundle a sick pregnant neighbour into a taxi a few weeks ago and set off with her to find treatment. In Texas, health officials have reached out to about 80 people who may have had direct contact with the man who brought Ebola into the US or someone close to him, a public-health spokeswoman said today.

None of them are showing symptoms, but health authorities have educated them about Ebola and told them to notify medical workers if they begin to feel ill. The group will be monitored to see if anyone seeks medical care during the three weeks immediately following the time of contact, said Erikka Neroes, of the Dallas County Health and Human Services agency.

The 80 people include 12 to 18 who came in direct contact with the infected man, as well as others known to have had contact with them, she said.

‘This is a big spider web’ of people involved, Neroes said. The initial group includes three members of the ambulance crew that took Duncan to the hospital, plus a handful of schoolchildren. Health officials are focusing on containment to try to stem the possibility of the Ebola virus spreading beyond Duncan, who arrived in Dallas on Sept. 20 to visit relatives and fell ill a few days later. His sister, Mai Wureh, identified Duncan as the infected man in an interview with The Associated Press.

Early symptoms of Ebola

Fever: Increase in body temperature is the first defence mechanism that the body uses to kill any foreign particle invading the body. When Ebola infects the body, it causes a release of various compounds like cytokines and histamines that pass on the signals of increasing body temperature. In fact, Ebola virus disease is also called the Ebola haemorrhagic fever, where the temperature can go above 38.6 C or 101.5 F.

Headache: It is the most common symptom of Ebola infection after fever, present in almost 96 percent of the cases. Nausea and headache along with fever present a typical case of common cold and flu. At this stage, the symptoms can be confused with other common infections.

Stomach pain: A few viral particles invade the liver and starts destroying the hepatocytes. New virions start damaging the intestinal cells causing abdominal pain.

Drop in blood pressure: The cytokines and histamines released by the immune cells, soon after the entry of the virus in the body, increases the permeability of the cells lining the blood vessels. This causes leakage of water from the blood into the surrounding tissues and a sudden drop in blood pressure.

With inputs from PTI

Image source: Getty images

Video source: newsy.rightster.com

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Published : October 3, 2014 10:16 am | Updated:October 3, 2014 10:20 am

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