At least 10 Americans possibly exposed to the deadly Ebola virus were being flown to the United States from Africa for observation, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Saturday.
The individuals will be transported by noncommercial air transport and will be housed near the University of Nebraska Medical Center, the National Institutes of Health in Maryland, or Emory University Hospital in Atlanta, the CDC said.
It said none of the individuals has been identified as having Ebola.
A U.S. health care worker who tested positive for Ebola while in Sierra Leone arrived at the NIH on Friday and was in serious condition, the NIH said.
CDC spokesman Thomas Skinner said 10 people who may have been exposed to the unidentified Ebola patient or who had a similar exposure to the virus as the patient were being flown to the United States. But he said the investigation was continuing and there may be more Americans evacuated from Africa.
A CDC statement said the individuals will follow the center’s recommended monitoring and movement guidelines during a 21-day incubation period.
If an individual shows symptoms, they will be transported to an Ebola treatment center for evaluation and care, the CDC said.
On Friday, CDC sent a team to Sierra Leone to investigate how the health care worker became exposed, and determine who might have been in contact with the infected person.
CDC spokesman Benjamin Haynes did not know where all of the patients would be sent, but he said the CDC is working out a plan with the State Department to determine who is coming back and where they will be sent.
The CDC said one patient was being sent to Emory University Hospital’s special isolation unit, where several Ebola patients have already been treated.
Four others are being sent to Nebraska Medical Center to be near their special isolation unit in case they develop Ebola symptoms.
While the virus has killed about 10,000 people in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea, only a handful of cases have been seen in the United States, Spain and Britain.