A health care worker worker who just returned from West Africa is under a mandatory quarantine at a New Jersey hospital. New York, New Jersey and Illinois implement mandatory Ebola quarantine policies as the federal government considers a similar move. The 101st Airborne Division assumes control of the U.S. mission to fight Ebola in Liberia.
Here’s the latest on the Ebola outbreak:
U.S. DEVELOPMENTS
Doctor tests positive
A Doctors Without Borders physician who recently returned to New York from West Africa has tested positive for the Ebola virus, becoming the first diagnosed case in the city, a law enforcement official briefed on the matter told CNN.
The doctor, identified by a law enforcement official as Craig Spencer, 33, arrived back in New York on October 17 after treating Ebola patients in Guinea, and developed a fever Thursday morning.
President cautiously optimistic
President Barack Obama said a number of things made him “cautiously more optimistic” about the Ebola situation in the United States and around the world. Obama said he was encouraged that dozens of people who had initial contact with Ebola patient Thomas Eric Duncan did not get the virus. In addition, the two Americans who contracted Ebola outside and came to the United States for treatment were cured. He said he was pleased that both Nigeria and Senegal were Ebola free.
Texas nurse to be transferred from isolation
Texas nurse Amber Vinson, who is being treated for Ebola at Emory Hospital in Atlanta, is steadily regaining her strength and her spirits are high, her family said. Her mother, Debra Berry, said doctors can no longer detect the virus in Vinson’s body. She will be transferred from isolation, and her family is “ecstatic,” Berry said.
Other Texas nurse is getting better
The condition of Nina Pham, who contracted Ebola after treating Duncan, has been upgraded from fair to good.
Bentley the dog doing well
Samples from nurse Pham’s dog Bentley were collected Monday. The good news is the animal tested negative for the virus. More specimens will be collected before the end of the 21-day quarantine.
Ebola expeditionary team begins training
A 30-member U.S. military team that could be called on to respond to new cases of Ebola in the United States has begun specialized training at Fort Sam Houston in Texas, the Pentagon said. The one-week training includes infection control and how to use the personal protective gear.
AFRICA DEVELOPMENTS
The rising toll
A total of 9,911 confirmed or probable cases, and 4,868 deaths have been reported in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia, the World Health Organization said Wednesday. Every district in Sierra Leone has reported at least one case.
Mali’s first confirmed case
A 2-year-old girl in Mali has been diagnosed with Ebola, making her the West African country’s first confirmed case, health officials said Thursday.
The girl was brought to Mali from neighboring Guinea, where the outbreak this year is believed to have started, World Health Organization spokeswoman Yvette Bivigou said.
The girl, whose father died of Ebola, was taken to the hospital in Kayes after a nurse noticed she was suffering from what appeared to be Ebola-like symptoms. A test confirmed the girl has Ebola, Health Ministry spokeswoman Markatie Daou said.
TRAVEL DEVELOPMENTS
All travelers coming from Ebola-affected areas will be actively monitored for 21 days starting Monday, CDC Director Dr. Thomas Frieden announced in a telebriefing on Wednesday. Contact information including email, two phone numbers and a physical U.S. address will be gathered from all people coming to the United States from Liberia, Guinea or Sierra Leone, Frieden said.
Travel
In a Thursday press conference, World Health Organization officials again stressed that it opposes a travel ban as a means of controlling the virus. Some in the United States and elsewhere have called for a blocking of those who attempt to enter the nation by air, while many in the scientific and medical community say doing so would make those with Ebola more difficult to track because they would attempt to cross borders by land. If the United States were to institute a travel ban, it would be unprecedented.
Earlier, Belize’s government issued a ban on citizens of affected West African countries.
ASIA DEVELOPMENTS
No entry to North Korea
A pair of Beijing-based agencies that specialize in travel to North Korea say they’ve been told by their “partners in Pyongyang” that the nation won’t allow international tourists to enter starting Friday, due to the threat of Ebola. It’s not clear whether the restriction affects business travelers.
CNN’s Katarina Hoije, Ed Lavandera, Kevin Liptak, Barbara Starr and Rene Marsh contributed to this report.