Ebola Virus Outbreak in USA: 10 More Americans Possible with Disease

A group of 10 Americans have been sent home after being exposed to the Ebola Virus. This will be the largest group of Americans coming back to the U.S. who may test positive for the disease.  

According to CNN, several clinicians working for the Boston-based aid group, Partners in Health, are being sent home because they may have contracted Ebola. The health care workers were working in Freetown, Sierra Leone with Ebola patients, reports Global News.

CNN's report adds that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has confirmed that eight of the medical workers have already been flown back to the United States. According to ABC7, the workers traveled on a non-commercial aircraft and the other workers will as well.  

The Partners in Health aid group made a statement about the workers, saying, "They will remain in isolation near designated U.S. Ebola treatment facilities to ensure access to rapid testing and treatment in the unlikely instance that any become symptomatic," reports ABC7. 

Taylor Wilson a spokesman for the Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha stated that four of the workers have already arrived and been given housing near the hospital, reports Global News. Wilson adds that none of the workers were sick.  

Meanwhile, CNN states that one aid worker was flown to Atlanta and is currently being housed near Emory University Hospital.  According to Nancy Nydam, spokeswoman for the Georgia Department of Public Health, three more health care workers are scheduled to arrive in Atlanta on March 16. 

The remaining medical workers have been sent to the National Institutes of Health in Maryland. Coincidentally, the patient from which all 10 workers may have contracted the virus, is currently being treated at NIH as well, states Global News.  

According to the site, a healthcare worker was transported to NIH last week. The worker tested positive for Ebola and was sent home. The 10 workers who are currently being treated and transported was a colleague of worker that tested positive for the disease.  

Global News states the 10 workers "came to the aid of their ailing colleague," thereby, exposing themselves to the virus. CNN notes that none of the 10 health workers have tested positive for the disease. The report adds that more workers might be sent home who may have been exposed to the virus.  

All sites confirm that the return of these 10 health care workers is just a precaution and that they have not tested positive for Ebola yet, unlike the original patient who was transferred on March 11.