Five U.S. clinicians who were exposed to Ebola in Sierra Leone in March, have been released from monitoring in Omaha, Nebraska.
The health workers have been under hospital care after they were exposed to Ebola while working in West Africa, according to CNN.
The group were with a Boston-based aid group, Partners in Health, when exposed to Ebola. Luckily, none of them developed the disease and they have successfully completed their quarantine period for Ebola. The group was completely symptom-free at the time of release.
One of the five health workers remained in care longer than the others. But officials said that the extra stay was for a cardiac-related issue, not having anything to do with their quarantine.
The group was initially exposed to a colleague while working in Sierra Leone. Hospital officials say that this person has improved dramatically and is now listed in fair condition. One of the founders of Partners in Health said that the patient really turned the corner after being admitted in critical condition and then moving on from a serious to fair condition.
The unnamed patient was brought directly from Sierra Leone to the National Institutes of Health’s Clinical Center in Bethesda, Maryland for treatment.
During this same time period, 17 patients have also been quarantined after a possible exposure to the virus. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta said their monitoring was complete and the individuals are expected for immediate release this week.
Ebola is a virus spread only by direct contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person. Since the virus was identified in West Africa in early 2014, over 10,400 people have died of Ebola. The World Health Organization said that almost all of the deaths though have been in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea.