Ebola is a true fear in the United States these days. Tourism and health experts had been voicing the need for a policy for those passengers arriving from countries with Ebola or those at risk to inform airlines in advance. Initial tests could be conducted before such passengers board flights.

A traveler had visited Nigeria recently; is being isolated and tested at the Howard University Hospital in Washington DC. The hospital confirmed it is treating a patient displaying symptoms ‘associated’ with Ebola following travel to Nigeria, is coordinating response with CDC

That person has been admitted to the hospital in stable condition, and is being isolated and tested. The medical team is working with the CDC to determine whether the patient has Ebola.

“In an abundance of caution, we have activated the appropriate infection control protocols, including isolating the patient,” said hospital spokesperson Kerry-Ann Hamilton in a statement. “Our medical team continues to evaluate and monitor progress in close collaboration with the CDC and the Department of Health.”

Hamilton did not share further details about the patient, citing privacy reasons, but said the hospital will provide updates as warranted.

As public health advocates had warned, the raging Ebola outbreak in West Africa has begun to affect Westerners, though the disease is difficult to spread casually.

Thursday, news broke that a freelance NBC cameraman covering the outbreak in Monrovia, Liberia had tested positive for Ebola after experiencing symptoms of the disease.

The cameraman, Ashoka Mukpo, had been working with chief medical correspondent Dr. Nancy Snyderman. NBC News is flying Mukpo and the entire team back to the U.S. so Mukpo can be treated and the team can be quarantined for 21 days.

Snyderman told MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow that she and the rest of her crew have shown no signs of the disease and have taken precautions while covering the outbreak, including washing their hands with bleach.
The crew are quarantining themselves as a precaution.

The Dallas Ambulance Crew Who Brought Ebola Patient to Hospital Is Quarantined

Ebola is contagious only when infected people are showing symptoms, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. People who have been exposed to Ebola will show signs of it within 21 days of exposure, the CDC said.

The first case of Ebola in the United States was diagnosed Wednesday. That patient, Thomas Eric Duncan, flew from his hometown of Monrovia, Liberia, and through Brussels, Belgium on Sept. 20 before entering the United States via Washington Dulles International Airport in Virginia. He then traveled on to Dallas-Fort Worth.

Duncan, a Liberian man with family in the United States, first went to Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Sept. 25 but was sent home. He returned to the hospital via ambulance Sunday.

On Friday, he was listed in serious but stable condition.