Deputy Who Delivered Ebola Quarantine Order in Hospital ER
— -- A sheriff's deputy who helped serve a quarantine order on the apartment where Texas Ebola patient Thomas Eric Duncan had been staying is being examined at a Dallas hospital for "possible exposure to the Ebola virus."
Dallas County Deputy Sheriff's Association confirmed Deputy Michael Monnig was taken to the emergency room of Texas Health Presbyterian Dallas today.
"Right now, there are more questions than answers about this case," the hospital said in a statement.
Monnig did not have contact with Duncan, who was hospitalized at the time the quarantine order was issued, and is not considered a high risk person, a Dallas County official told ABC News.
"Our professional staff of nurses and doctors is prepared to examine the patient, discuss any findings with appropriate agencies and officials. We are on alert with precautions and systems in place," the hospital said.
Frisco Fire Chief Mark Piland told reporters today Monnig was initially treated at CareNow, an urgent care facility in Frisco, Texas, around 12:30 p.m. Wednesday.
Staff called for help after realizing the deputy’s symptoms and history matched the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention criteria for possible Ebola infection.
The Frisco fire department took the deputy from the urgent care facility in Frisco to the Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas. The medics who transported the deputy are undergoing decontamination.
Piland told reporters the Ebola test results for the deputy will be available in about 48 hours. He also confirmed the deputy had been in contact with family members of Duncan and in the apartment where Duncan became ill, but that the deputy had not had contact with Duncan himself.
Piland also confirmed that Monnig was not one of the 48 people already being monitored by public health officials for Ebola symptoms.
The deputy reported multiple symptoms associated with Ebola, according to Piland. The early symptoms of Ebola can include fever, headache, nausea and vomiting.
Frisco Mayor Maher Maso reassured residents that the health officials on the scene believe the danger of an Ebola infection was “low-risk.”
“Things sometimes turn out and sometimes do not,” said Piland. “We can’t afford to make mistakes.”
Fourteen other people at the urgent care center, including doctors nurses and patients, were allowed to leave based on the low level risk, according to Piland. The urgent care center has been reopened.
Dr. Tom Frieden, head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, was asked about the patient.
“There is someone who does not have either definite contact or definite symptoms of Ebola, who is being assessed,” Frieden said.
“We are tracing the other 48 people” who were exposed to Duncan, he said. “None of them as of today have had fever or symptoms of Ebola.”
"We’re at peak incidence period of symptoms, which is 8 to 10 days after exposure," Frieden said. Each person being monitored has had their temperature taken by public health official every day since being identified, according to Frieden.
The Dallas County Sheriff's office said in a statement, “The deputy expressed concern and we directed that deputy to the Dallas County Health & Human Services for care. We now wait for further information as medical staff attends to the deputy."
