First U.S. Ebola patient had direct contact with around 12 people - official

WASHINGTON, Oct 2 (KUNA) -- Although health officials are reaching out to as many as 100 people who may have had contact with the first Ebola patient diagnosed in the United States, the number of people who had direct contact with the man is close to 12, a federal official said on Thursday.
Those being questioned may have crossed paths with the patient either at the hospital, at his apartment complex or in his Texas community, the official said.
Dallas County Health and Human Services spokeswoman Erikka Neroes earlier on Thursday said 80 people were being monitored for Ebola in the Dallas area, which means a public health worker visits twice a day to take the contact's temperature and ask them if they are experiencing any symptoms.
None of those being monitored has so far shown symptoms, and are receiving educational materials about the deadly virus, Neroes said. Dallas County health officials have ordered four close relatives of the patient, Thomas Eric Duncan, to stay home and not have any visitors until at least Oct. 19.
Duncan remains in serious but stable condition at a Dallas hospital.
A Liberian community leader, Stanley Gaye, said Duncan was in Dallas visiting his girlfriend, and that he was around her five children.
Dallas Independent School District Superintendent Mike Miles said the patient came in contact with five students who attended four different schools in the area. More than 3,500 students attend the four schools, which are being sanitized over the next few days.
On Sept. 24, four days after he arrived in Dallas on a flight from Liberia, Duncan started feeling symptoms, and late the following night went to Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas with a low-grade fever and abdominal pain, hospital officials said.
Duncan was sent home with painkillers and antibiotics, then returned to the hospital in worse condition on Sept. 28, and was then isolated, officials said. (end) rm.mt