The state is continuing to monitor residents who may have had contact with a Texas nurse diagnosed with the Ebola virus after returning home following a trip to northeastern Ohio. The Ebola incubation period can be as long as three weeks, meaning local residents who spent time with Amber Vinson during her Ohio trip will continue to be monitored for 21 days after last contact. For those who had contact with the nurse on her last day in the area, the incubation period runs through about Nov. 3.
The state said Monday there are now 142 people being monitored in Ohio because of contact or potential contact with Vinson. Three people have been quarantined in northeastern Ohio.
Meanwhile, Ohio members of Congress are calling on the federal government to step up assistance to state health officials as it revises safety protocols to stem the spread of Ebola. All 16 members of Ohio's House delegation including GOP Speaker John Boehner sent a letter asking the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to provide all necessary help to determine whether Ohioans may have been exposed to Ebola.
Ebola has become a concern in Ohio after a nurse visited the Akron area shortly before she was diagnosed with the virus in Texas.
Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown has called on the CDC to send additional Ebola preparedness experts and work more actively on its next steps. The CDC says that it plans to intensify assistance in Ohio and add personnel.
