Ebola patient's house decontaminated

A hazardous materials crew has decontaminated the Texas apartment where an Ebola patient had been staying as US health officials reduced the number of people being monitored for signs for the disease by half.

Ebola patient's house decontaminated

A hazardous materials crew has decontaminated the Texas apartment where an Ebola patient had been staying as US health officials reduced the number of people being monitored for signs for the disease by half.

Hours later, the family that was living in the Dallas apartment was moved to a private residence in a gated community that was offered by a volunteer.

The decontamination team was to collect bed sheets, towels and a mattress used by the infected man, Thomas Eric Duncan, before he was taken to hospital, as well as a suitcase and other personal items belonging to him, officials said.

The materials were sealed in industrial barrels that were to be stored until they can be hauled away for permanent disposal, probably by incineration at a landfill.

The first Ebola diagnosis in the US has raised concerns about whether the disease that has killed 3,400 people in West Africa could spread in America. Federal health officials say they are confident they can keep it in check.

Elsewhere, NBC News reported that an American freelance cameraman working for the network in Liberia has tested positive for the virus and will be flown back to the United States, along with the rest of the news crew.

In Dallas, neighbours stood on their balconies and watched the family’s grim departure from behind a black tarp hung to shield their front door from view.

The family was placed in a Dallas County deputy’s patrol car and driven away, apparently leaving with nothing more than the clothes they wore.

The residence where they will stay had been offered only a short time earlier. Until then, a search for shelter had come up short. The city had been refused by hotels, apartments and other providers.

“No one wants this family,” said Sana Sayed, a Dallas city spokeswoman.

The family was confined to their home under armed guard while health officials monitor them – part of an intense effort to contain the deadly disease before it can get a foothold in the United States.

Louise Troh, originally from Liberia, shares the apartment with her 13-year-old son and two nephews.

When the decontamination is complete, even the crew’s protective suits are to be burned, said Tamara Smith, office manager for the Cleaning Guys of Fort Worth.

Judge Clay Jenkins, Dallas County’s top administrative official, said he went to the apartment with two epidemiologists to apologise for the delay in removing the soiled items, which happened five days after Mr Duncan was admitted to the hospital.

“I want to see this family treated the way I would want to see my own family treated,” Judge Jenkins said.

The confinement order, which also bans visitors, was imposed after the family failed to comply with a request to stay home.

Texas health officials have narrowed the number of people they were monitoring from as many as 100 to about 50 who had some type of exposure to Mr Duncan.

Texas Health Commissioner David Lakey said all 50 are meeting with health workers and having their temperatures taken daily. So far, none shows symptoms of the virus. Ten are considered to be at higher risk and are being monitored more closely.

The virus that causes Ebola is not airborne and can only be spread through direct contact with the bodily fluids – blood, sweat, vomit, feces, urine, saliva or semen – of an infected person who is showing symptoms.

Mr Duncan arrived in Dallas on September 20 and fell ill a few days later. After an initial visit to the emergency room at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital, he was sent home, even though he told a nurse he had been in disease-ravaged West Africa.

He returned to the hospital two days later, on Sunday, and has been kept in isolation ever since. He is listed as being in a serious but stable condition.

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