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Up to 100 people in Texas are believed to have had contact with Ebola patient Thomas Eric Duncan as the patient’s quarantined girlfriend said today she has not been told by authorities what to do with the infected man’s sweat-soaked bedclothes which remain in her home.
Mr Duncan’s partner, Louise, told CNN that she has been legally ordered to stay inside her Dallas apartment with her 13-year-old child and two nephews, who are both in their twenties, as they came in direct contact with the patient while he was contagious.
None of the four people quarantined are showing Ebola symptoms but Louise, who works as a home healthcare aide, has been taking the group’s temperature every hour.
The CDC has not told the mother what to do with Mr Duncan’s sweat-soaked sheets and pillows which remain in the home. She has placed the towels he used in plastic bags and cleaned up with bleach.
Louise, who has one child with Mr Duncan, told Anderson Cooper that she does not believe she has Ebola because she did not come in contact with bodily fluids. She said Mr Duncan was ‘prideful’ in taking care of himself when he became sick.
Mr Duncan, who arrived in the U.S. from Liberia on September 20, suffered diarrhea and was sweating and shivering in her bed.
Louise said that she did not believe he had thrown up outside the apartment on Sunday, as a neighbor reported, and wished to reassure her neighbors.
The number of family members who came in contact with Mr Duncan while he was contagious is unclear, CNN reported.
Louise’s daughter, who does not live at the quarantined apartment, was the person who called an ambulance for Mr Duncan on Sunday after she came to her mother’s home to bring him tea and found him feverish and shivering.
It is unclear if she traveled with him in the ambulance or came in close contact with the infected man.
Louise told CNN that she has other children, who are not currently living at the home but elsewhere in Dallas and also a son at college. They did not come in contact with Mr Duncan, she said.
The family who are isolated in the apartment have been told they face criminal charges if they leave the apartment or accept visitors.
Dallas judge Clay Jenkins told ABC today that a legal quarantine order was placed on the home after the family tried to break out of the apartment.
However MailOnline reported on Wednesday that three individuals – a man in his twenties with a roll of garbage bags and two women – came and left the apartment.
The quarantined woman said that she has been given no instructions by the Center for Diseases Control and Prevention (CDC) on how to dispose of the contaminated bedding in the home or what the family would do for food.
She said that two CDC workers who visited the home on Wednesday brought sandwiches.
Following the shocking revelation, the CDC said on Thursday afternoon that medical contractors would be visiting the home to deal with the contaminated materials.
The Ivy Apartment complex was also being power-washed to ease the concerns of residents.
At a press conference on Thursday afternoon, Judge Jenkins said that several days supply of food was being delivered to the quarantined family members who were being treated with the ‘utmost respect and dignity’.
Louise said that she took Mr Duncan to Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital for the first time.
The New York Times reported on Thursday that Mr Duncan attended the hospital last Thursday night at 10pm – a shift in the timeline, after it was originally reported by the hospital that the sick man had come to the emergency room on Friday.
Louise said she told a check-in receptionist and a nurse that he had recently come from Liberia, a known Ebola ‘hot zone’.
The mother said that she did not initially think that Mr Duncan was suffering from Ebola but perhaps malaria.
She said the couple did not discuss Ebola despite the fact that Mr Duncan had recently traveled from the stricken region and, according to The New York Times, had helped carried a neighbor’s daughter who was dying from Ebola.
The hospital gave Mr Duncan antibiotics and sent him home, where he became even sicker, making frequent trips to the bathroom.
Louise said Mr Duncan stayed in the apartment but she cannot be certain because she left during the day to go to work.
She told CNN that she is very worried but keeps praying and has spoken Mr Duncan via telephone from his quarantine unit at Texas Presbyterian where his condition remains stable.
It was revealed on Thursday that Liberia plans to prosecute Mr Duncan after he allegedly lied on an airport questionnaire about not having any contact with an infected person, authorities said on Thursday.
Mr Duncan filled out a series of questions about his health and activities before leaving on his journey to Dallas, Texas on September 19. On the form he answered no to every question.
Among other questions, the form asked whether Duncan had cared for an Ebola patient or touched the body of anyone who had died in an area affected by Ebola.
Texas health officials said around 100 people may have come into contact with Mr Duncan and they are being questioned.
Authorities have confirmed 12 people had direct contact with Mr Duncan including five children.
Some parents have pulled their children out of four affected Dallas schools after learning that five students may have come into contact with Mr Duncan, the first person to be diagnosed with Ebola in the U.S.
School administrators appealed for calm as none of the children have shown symptoms and are being monitored at home, where they will likely remain for three weeks.
Parents and pupils at schools in Dallas where children were possibly infected with Ebola said that they were appalled at how the crisis was being handled.
The schools were named as Tasby Middle School, Dan D. Rogers Elementary, Lowe Elementary and Conrad High School.
Parents and students were only told on Wednesday that their schools had been affected – a day after the public were informed that a patient had the deadly virus.
They were given a letter and a fact sheet but were told it was ‘all fine’ and that children had to remain in school.
But Marcie Pardo and other parents left L.L. Hotchkiss Elementary indicating that they were taking no chances and would keep their children home for the rest of the week.
‘Kids pretty much touch everything. Not everyone washes their hands,’ Pardo said. ‘It’s the contagious part that gets me worried.’
Nikki Turner, 31, who has a 13-year-old and a 15-year-old at Tasby Middle School and Conrad High told MailOnline on Thursday that the school authorities ‘could be doing a lot more’.
She said: ‘All I’ve been told was in a phone call on Wednesday when they said the children who had it are being taken out and it was all OK.
‘I had to take my children to hospital last night for blood tests to make sure they’re alright. They are not telling us enough, they need to tell me more.’
Ebola isn’t contagious until symptoms appear, and then it can spread only by close contact with a patient’s bodily fluids.
Ms Pardo said that knowledge makes her feel better, but that she still took her eight-year-old daughter, Soriah, home from school early, along with her cousin.
Dallas Independent School District Superintendent Mike Miles said on Wednesday the district is taking an ‘abundance of caution’ and would add more health workers to keep watch for symptoms among students.
At the affected schools, cleaning teams in hazmat suits were seen scrubbing the hallways, Kstp.com reported.
‘The students didn’t have any symptoms, so the odds of them passing on any sort of virus is very low,’ Miles said.
However tensions have already risen among some students.
Ebola isn’t contagious until symptoms appear, and then it can spread only by close contact with a patient’s bodily fluids.
Ms Pardo said that knowledge makes her feel better, but that she still took her eight-year-old daughter, Soriah, home from school early, along with her cousin.
Dallas Independent School District Superintendent Mike Miles said on Wednesday the district is taking an ‘abundance of caution’ and would add more health workers to keep watch for symptoms among students.
At the affected schools, cleaning teams in hazmat suits were seen scrubbing the hallways, Kstp.com reported.
‘The students didn’t have any symptoms, so the odds of them passing on any sort of virus is very low,’ Miles said.
However tensions have already risen among some students.
Tasby pupil Francisco Garcia, 14, described a scene of chaos to MailOnline on Wednesday as pupils found out through gossip rather than an official announcement.
He said: ‘One kid was telling everyone that somebody had Ebola in school but nobody believed him. We said that Ebola was something that happens in Africa’
‘We were all joking about it and touching each other and saying you have Ebola.
‘Then our health sciences teacher told us it was true and told us not to panic. There was not announcement or anything. They just let us out floor by floor at the end of the day.’
His friend Angela Gandy, 14, added: ‘They have not had any doctors in to check on us. One of my friends’ mums took her out of school and is keeping her there for 21 days.’
Evelyn Barrientos, 12, a pupil at Tasby, said that there had been no doctors in the school to check up on them.
She said: ‘I think they should be keeping us away from school. If it was up to me I would not be here. I don’t think they are taking it as seriously as they should.’
Her mother Maria Arredondo, 39, added: ‘I’m scared. I’m worried for my daughter’.
A letter handed out to parents of students at Tasby on Wednesday warned parents that one of school’s students may have had contact with the Ebola patient and had been advised to stay home from classes.
The note reassured parents that their children were not in ‘imminent danger’ and that health measures were being put in place. Additional nurses would be at the school to watch children who report fever or flu-like symptoms and the school building would be thoroughly cleaned each night as a precaution.
Online Reporter