Four people in Oregon are being monitored for the Ebola virus after traveling to West African countries that have outbreaks of the disease, public health officials said on Thursday.
The Oregon Health Authority has contacted all individuals who have traveled to Guinea and the Democratic Republic of Congo and considers them “people under monitoring,” the agency said in a statement.
They all arrived in Oregon from affected countries earlier this month, officials said, adding that the risk to others in the state was low.
“We want to ensure that these individuals have the support they need to monitor their health, stay in touch with public health officials, and obtain safe help with medical services, if applicable,” Richard Leman, chief medical officer of the state for health security, preparedness and response, said in a statement.
Leman pointed out that, unlike the coronavirus, people without symptoms cannot transmit the Ebola virus and none of the monitored individuals showed signs of the disease.
He also said that Oregon has successfully implemented monitoring programs during previous Ebola outbreaks.
“We’ve had to do this before,” he said. “These approaches that we are using have been successful in these cases and we have never had a case of Ebola in Oregon.”
As of Wednesday, Guinea had recorded 18 cases of Ebola and nine deaths. The outbreak is centered in the southern region of the country. The Democratic Republic of Congo recorded 12 cases and six deaths in the eastern part of the country, close to the border with Uganda.
Outbreaks were limited to small areas in both countries and did not affect large population centers.
Still, the Centers for Disease Control issued warnings for both countries and told people to avoid unnecessary travel.
Public health officials said they had been in contact with community organizations in Oregon to provide help to people monitored in the state.
– Kale Williams; [email protected]; 503-294-4048; @sfkale