NBC crew ordered quarantined by NJ officials after Ebola exposure

After an NBC crew that was exposed to the Ebola virus violated a voluntary quarantine agreement, New Jersey health officials issued a mandatory quarantine order for the crew until Oct. 22.

An NBC crew exposed to a cameraman with Ebola is under a mandatory quarantine order issued by New Jersey officials, reports NorthJersey.com.

The order took effect Friday night, after a voluntary 21-day isolation agreement was violated, said state health officials.

The crew remains symptom-free, and there is no reason for concern of exposure to the deadly virus to the community, said state Health Department officials to The Associated Press.

Department officials would not disclose who violated the voluntary agreement and how the state learned of the violation, citing privacy concerns.

The voluntary isolation agreement was made with the CDC, and state and local health officials. People exposed to the virus develop symptoms two to 21 days after their exposure, says the CDC.

After Ashoka Mukpo, a freelance cameraman who lives in Providence, Rhode Island, came down with the disease on Oct. 1, NBC announced the rest of its crew working with him would voluntarily be isolated for 21 days.

“Unfortunately, the NBC crew violated this agreement and so the Department of Health today issued a mandatory quarantine order to ensure that the crew will remain confined until Oct. 22,” said the state Health Department in a statement.

Dr. Nancy Snyderman, chief medical editor and correspondent for NBC, who lives in New Jersey, was part of the crew working with Mukpo, who was infected in West Africa.

The network could not comment on any individual case, but noted that the team was deemed to be low-risk upon its return from Liberia, and its members agreed to follow guidelines set by local health authorities, said an NBC representative to The AP on Saturday.

“We fully support those guidelines and continue to expect that they be followed,” said the representative. “Our team are all well with normal temperatures, which they check multiple times a day, and they are also in daily contact with local health officials.”

All the gear Snyderman and her crew used was being disinfected because they all shared work space and vehicles, said Snyderman in a phone interview with “Today” last week. They have been “hyper-vigilant,” said Snyderman.