Ebola crisis: US cameraman diagnosed with virus; Liberia to prosecute patient in Texas

A 33-YEAR-OLD American working in Liberia as a freelance cameraman for NBC News has been infected with Ebola and will be flown back to the US, the network says. “The freelancer came down with symptoms on Wednesday, feeling tired and achy. As part of a routine temperature check, he discovered he was running a slight fever,” said NBC’s website on Thursday. “He immediately quarantined himself and sought medical advice.” The man, who was only hired on Tuesday, went to a Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) treatment centre to be tested on Thursday, and the positive result came back just under 12 hours later. He was a second cameraman for NBC News chief medical editor and correspondent Dr Nancy Snyderman, who is reporting on assignment in Monrovia with three other NBC employees. He is the fourth American to have contracted Ebola in Liberia. The other three were Christian missionaries who became infected in healthcare settings. The cameraman’s name was not revealed, but NBC said he “has been working in Liberia on various projects for the past three years”. Meanwhile, Liberia plans to prosecute the Ebola patient who brought the disease into the United States, as four of the infected man’s relatives in Texas have been quarantined. Authorities allege that Thomas Eric Duncan lied on an airport screening questionnaire about not having any contact with an infected person, with witnesses saying he did. On September 19, Mr Duncan answered no to a series of questions about his health and activities before leaving his disease-ravaged home for Dallas. The form asked whether Mr Duncan had cared for an Ebola patient or touched the body of anyone who had died in an area affected by Ebola. “We expect people to do the honourable thing,” said Binyah Kesselly, chairman of the board of directors of the Liberia Airport Authority in Monrovia. The agency obtained permission from the Ministry of Justice to pursue the matter. Those who flew with US Ebola man called United Airlines says it is notifying passengers who were on flights with Thomas Eric Duncan and telling them how to contact federal health officials. The airliner said it is also telling passengers that officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention believe the man could not have spread the disease during the flights because he was not showing symptoms and was not yet contagious. Duncan flew from Liberia in the heart of western Africa’s Ebola outbreak zone to Belgium on a Brussels Airlines flight on September 19, according to Belgian officials. United said it believes that Duncan flew the next day on United Flight 951 from Brussels to Dulles International Airport near Washington and connected to Flight 822 from Dulles to Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport. United officials declined to say how many passengers were on the flights. The Brussels-to-Dulles flight was on a Boeing 777 that has 266 seats, and the flight to Dallas used an Airbus A320 with 138 seats. In a statement, the airline said on Thursday the two planes underwent their routine overnight “thorough cleaning” after the flights, “including cleaning of lavatories and galleys with heavy-duty all-purpose cleaners and wiping tray tables and armrests with disinfectant”. It added that “we continue to clean and route the planes throughout our network as usual”. Texas Ebola patient was ‘good Samaritan’ Mr Duncan’s neighbours believe he become infected when he helped bundle a sick pregnant neighbour who was vomiting and convulsing into a taxi a few weeks ago and set off with her to find treatment. The 19-year-old woman died the next day. “Eric touched her. Eric helped the family to carry her to the hospital. When they carried the girl and brought her back, he helped to carry the girl inside, and no protection. They didn’t put anything on their bodies,” neighbour Irene Seyou told US ABC News. Meanwhile, four of Mr Duncan’s close relatives are locked inside their Dallas home which is guarded by law enforcement officials. Mr Duncan stayed with them when he reached Texas. Texas state health commissioner David Lakey says the unusual step with the four relatives was so health officials could do the necessary monitoring, including checking them for fevers over the next 21 days.