HOUSTON, Texas — Authorities now estimate that the Liberian Ebola patient being treated in Dallas, Texas, Thomas Eric Duncan, may have had contact with up to 100 people while infected.
Breitbart Texas obtained a statement from the Texas Department of State Health Services that said, “We are working from a list of about 100 potential or possible contacts and will soon have an official contact tracing number that will be lower. Out of an abundance of caution, we’re starting with this very wide net, including people who have had even brief encounters with the patient or the patient’s home.”
Breitbart Texas additionally learned that as of Wednesday night, four of Duncan’s family members were ordered to stay at home. They will be allowed to leave on October 19, if they have not shown any signs of Ebola.
The family must also be willing to give blood samples and taking other tests as ordered by health officials. At this time, no family members are showing Ebola symptoms.
Ebola does not spread easily.
Chris Van Deusen with the Texas Department of State Health Services told Breitbart Texas, “Only people who have come into direct contact with the blood or other body fluids of the Ebola patient while he was sick are at any risk of infection. If that’s not the case, there is zero chance of infection. Local officials (Dallas County HHS) may have information on the number of people being monitored, though I’ll note that’s different that being quarantined.”
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