Texas health officials said Thursday they have ordered the family of a Liberian national infected with Ebola not to leave their home or have any contact with outsiders for 21 days without approval of the local or state health department.
The “control order” — delivered in writing Wednesday night — also requires the family of Thomas Eric Duncan to be available to provide blood samples and agree to any testing required by public health officials.
Duncan, who is in serious condition with Ebola at Texas Health Presybyterian Hospital,recently arrived in the United States from Liberia.
Ebola has infected 7,178 people and has killed 3,338 in Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Senegal and Nigeria, the World Health Organization says. The outbreaks in Nigeria and Senegal — which took swift, decisive action to control the virus — are likely over.
In other countries, however, the number of cases has been doubling every three weeks, and the CDC estimates that the disease could affect up to 1.4 million people by January if it’s not quickly controlled.