LOS ANGELES, California–Breitbart News reported that on Monday a man on a bus wearing a surgical mask, accompanied by a woman, yelled “Don’t mess with me I have Ebola,” threw his mask to the ground and vanished with the woman into the city.
Paul Gonzales of Los Angeles Metro told Breitbart News that although they believe the man’s announcement was a hoax, officials are not taking the incident lightly. The bus surveillance video has been turned over to Los Angeles Sheriff detectives to be scrutinized and to help them find the suspect.
Gonzales said that the bus driver was taken to Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center for examination on Monday and was released on Monday night. The driver’s name has not been released to the public. There is no confirmation on how many passengers were on the bus.
“The FBI has requested the video and could possibly pursue the incident as a terrorist activity,” the Metro representative said. Gonzales explained that the people who were on the bus as passengers all got off the bus after the suspects fled. Breitbart news questioned whether all of the passengers on the bus should have been detained and quarantined if indeed the man was infected with Ebola.
“You have to look at the reality of the situation. The reality is that there are no cases of Ebola in California. The Centers for Disease Control tell us that unless a person has physical contact with bodily fluids of a person who is known to be infected with Ebola, the chances of contracting Ebola are zero,” Gonzales insisted.
Gonzales added that the man was wearing a surgical mask and his female companion was not wearing one. “If a person is diagnosed with having the Ebola virus, he would not be allowed to go out into the world and ride a metro bus. Medical authorities would keep him under quarantine and under treatment,” he added. “Medical authorities have told us they believe this is a hoax.”
Gonzales claims that we have to look at this from the perspective of “What do the experts say?” Breitbart News inquired whether Gonzales was aware of recent statements that it is still unknown whether Ebola can be transmitted by coughing or sneezing.
“The person did not sneeze on the bus, the person did not cough on the bus, the person did not spit at the bus driver. He did not bleed or anything like that,” Gonzales remarked.