Dallas Homeless Shelters 'Don't Have An Ebola Plan'

HOUSTON, Texas — Fear of an Ebola outbreak has Dallas residents shaken up, as one man has been diagnosed with the deadly virus and several others have been quarantined for precautionary measures. During a medical outbreak, a city’s homeless individuals, who often live in group homes, are typically considered at high-risk of contracting and spreading various viruses. It appears that there are very little precautionary measures in place prevent the spreading of Ebola within Dallas’ homeless population, should an outbreak occur. 

“We don’t have an Ebola plan,” a spokesperson from Restoring Hope Dallas, a ministry that gives housing to the homeless, told Breitbart Texas. “We haven’t gone into Ebola protection mode or anything like that. It seems like [the current case of Ebola] was just one freak incident.”

When residents come to Restoring Hope Dallas, they have access to basic healthcare. The spokesman said the organization would determine if an individual has Ebola by “seeing what health the person is in when they come in.” 

Unfortunately, however, an individual can have Ebola for numerous days and show no signs of the virus. 

Still, at Restoring Hope Dallas, employees appear to believe that the situation “might be getting blown out of proportion here in Dallas.”

Dallas’ Shared Housing Center offers services to “at-risk” homeless individuals and families, including children. A spokeswoman with that organization told Breitbart Texas that no medical screen is done prior to individuals entering the shelter. “You do have to take a drug test though,” she added. 

At this time, it is unclear how likely a large-scale Ebola outbreak in Dallas is. The the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) informed Breitbart Texas that “all precautions” are being taken to properly isolate the infected individual, who is being treated at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital. 

A DSHS spokesperson told Breitbart Texas that the virus is “spread through direct contact with blood, secretions or other bodily fluids or exposure to contaminated objects, such as needles.” Ebola symptoms include high fever, headache, muscle aches, sore throat, weakness, and stomach pain, according to WebMD. 

Follow Kristin Tate on Twitter @KristinBTate.