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UNC Bars Students From West Africa; NC DHHS Takes Measured Approach To Returning Aid Workers

A picture of colorized Ebola particles.
Thomas W. Geisbert, Boston University School of Medicine
/
Wikipedia

UNC-Chapel Hill chancellor Carol Folt and leaders at UNC Health Care are prohibiting student travel to Ebola-stricken nations.  University faculty and staff must have approval before traveling to Guinea, Liberia or Sierra Leone.

New York and New Jersey are requiring people returning from Ebola-affected areas of Africa to stay in quarantine for three weeks. That's the incubation period for the disease. 

But North Carolina does not have such a mandate.

This week, Health Secretary Aldona Wos outlined the state's protocols for people returning from West Africa.

Travelers with Ebola symptoms will be immediately isolated. High risk travelers with no symptoms will have a daily face-to-face health assessment for three weeks. Their movement will be monitored during that time, and restricted if necessary.

Wos says low-risk travelers will have a health assessment and daily follow-ups for three weeks.

“While we cannot control every circumstance that might occur, we will do our very best to prepare for this evolving situation.”

Wos says "a few" North Carolinians just back from West Africa are currently being monitored for symptoms. 

Rebecca Martinez produces podcasts at WUNC. She’s been at the station since 2013, when she produced Morning Edition and reported for newscasts and radio features. Rebecca also serves on WUNC’s Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Accountability (IDEA) Committee.
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