NYC Health Dept. Issues Alert for Ebola to Area MD Providers

Crain’s New York Business has reported that the New York City Health Department has issued a health alert to medical providers asking them to be on alert for any suspected cases of the deadly Ebola virus that is ravaging West Africa. The New York Business Journal reports that quarantine officers are stationed at JFK and other international airports.

The ebola virus is transmitted by contact with the bodily fluids of someone who is ill.

A NYC Health Department spokesperson is quoted in Crain’s as having said that the department is monitoring the situation and they are prepared to protect the health of New Yorkers against the incursion of the disease which is fatal in 90 percent of cases.

Yesterday, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) issued a travel warning for West Africa. The last time the CDC issued a travel warning was in 2003 to combat the SARS virus.

The New York Times reports that the death toll from the virus continues to mount daily with more than 729 fatalities as of Thursday and outbreaks have been reported in more than 60 West African locations.

The outbreak began in March in Guinea. Cases have now been reported in Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Liberia.

Doctors Without Borders have sent medical personnel into the afflicted areas to treat the sick and dying, often with deadly results. Two American aid workers have now tested positive and a doctor at Liberia’s largest hospital has succumbed to the disease.

The CDC has cautioned that travelers who become ill or injured while traveling may come into contact with the disease when they seek treatment for their unrelated illnesses at medical centers and hospitals throughout the afflicted regions.

In an article in The Huffington Post, the White House Press secretary, Josh Earnest said the United States is considering a medical evacuation of two aid workers who have contracted the disease.