Sanitizing crew turned away at Ebola patient's residence in Dallas Sanitizing crew turned away at Ebola patient's residence in Dallas.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- Thomas Eric Duncan is the first person diagnosed with Ebola on American soil
- He was hospitalized in Dallas this week
- Sanitizing company says it was turned away for lack of proper transportation permits
Thomas Eric Duncan became
the first person diagnosed with Ebola on American soil when he was
hospitalized days after arrival from Liberia.
His partner and her family are in isolation at the apartment, which still has the sheets, clothes and towels Duncan used.
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Before leaving his
homeland, Duncan answered no to questions on whether he was exposed to
the deadly virus, said Binyah Kesselly of the Liberia Airport Authority.
Duncan had been helping
Ebola patients, including caring for one at a residence outside the
capital of Monrovia, Liberian community leader Tugbeh Chieh Tugbeh said.
Cleanup delayed
As concerns grow over how
many people he may have exposed to the deadly virus, a plan to sanitize
the apartment was delayed late Thursday.
Brad Smith of the
Cleaning Guys, which was hired to sanitize the apartment, said his
company does not have the proper permits to transport hazardous waste on
Texas highways. The company specializes in hazmat and biohazard
cleaning services.
Smith said authorities
sent his crew away late Thursday before they entered the apartment and
told them to come back with proper permits. It's unclear how long that
will take.
"The permit is being processed through DOT (the Department of Transportation) because it is a special permit," Smith said.
"This is a unique situation. Once awarded, our hazmat teams will be allowed back inside to do their jobs."
Duncan was visiting his son and his son's mother in Dallas, said Wilfred Smallwood, his half-brother.
The woman, who asked to
be identified only by her first name, Louise, told CNN's Anderson Cooper
she is quarantined with one of her children under age 13 and two
nephews in their 20s.
Louise used bleach to clean her apartment, "but it's not clear to me how systematic the cleaning was," Cooper said.
They've been holed up in the apartment since Duncan became ill.
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Dozens may have had contact with him
Health officials are
reaching out to as many as 100 people who may have had contact with
Duncan, a Texas Department of State Health Services spokeswoman said.
They are being questioned because they may have crossed paths with the
patient either.
The number of direct
contacts who have been identified and are being monitored right now is
"more than 12," a federal official told CNN.
Monitoring means a
public health worker visits the contacts twice a day to take
temperatures and to ask if they are experiencing any symptoms.
Ebola doesn't spread
through airborne or waterborne methods. It spreads through contact with
organs and bodily fluids such as blood, saliva, urine and other
secretions of infected people.
Liberia looking into prosecuting him
Liberia Airport
Authority officials said they may prosecute Duncan if he lied on his
health screening questionnaire before leaving for the United States.
President Ellen Johnson
Sirleaf told Canadian public broadcaster CBC that she would consult with
lawyers to decide what to do with Duncan when he returns home.
"The fact that he knew
(he was exposed to the virus) and he left the country is unpardonable,
quite frankly," Johnson Sirleaf said.
"With the U.S. doing so
much to help us fight Ebola, and again one of our compatriots didn't
take due care, and so, he's gone there and ... put some Americans in a
state of fear, and put them at some risk, and so I feel very saddened by
that and very angry with him, to tell you the truth."
Duncan hadn't mentioned
any exposure to the disease, Smallwood said, adding that he doesn't
believe he knew he had Ebola when he left Liberia.
Duncan was screened
three times before he boarded his flight in Liberia bound for Brussels,
said Kesselly, the Liberia Airport Authority board chairman. His
temperature was a consistent 97.3 degrees Fahrenheit, said Thomas
Frieden, chief of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
After his connection through Brussels, he flew to Washington, and then to Dallas.
Family quarantined
Duncan is in serious
condition at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital. So far, no one who had
contact with him has shown any signs of Ebola, Dallas County Judge Clay
Jenkins said.
As more details of his
ailment emerged, an American cameraman was diagnosed with Ebola in
Monrovia, where Duncan was when he got infected.
Ashoka Mukpo, 33, a freelance cameraman for NBC News, will return to the United States for treatment aboard a private charter plane.
