Maine nurse who treated Ebola patients will not observe quarantine

FORT KENT, Maine - Kaci Hickox, the nurse released from quarantine in New Jersey after she had returned from treating Ebola patients in West Africa refuses to comply with another 21-day quarantine imposed by Maine officials, her attorney says.

Hickox, who took care of Ebola victims in Sierra Leone, showed no symptoms of the virus while under quarantine in New Jersey and her protests against being placed under quarantine prompted Gov. Chris Christie to lift it. Hickox, who confined against her will at a New Jersey hospital before traveling home to Fort Kent, Maine.

The nurse arrived Tuesday at her home after being released from the hospital and is now at an undisclosed location.

Her attorney Steven Hyman told the Bangor Daily News that she agreed to stay in isolation from the public for two days, despite Maine officials expectations that she remain for the required 21-days imposed on those who have been exposed to the virus.

"She doesn't want to agree to continue to be confined to a residence beyond the two days," Hyman said.

Health officials in Maine said Tuesday they're prepared to legally enforce the state's "voluntary" quarantine on health care workers who've treated Ebola patients.

But civil rights lawyer Norman Siegel, who is also representing Hickox said she would contest any potential court order requiring her to quarantine at home.

"The conditions that the state of Maine is now requiring Kaci to comply with are unconstitutional and illegal and there is no justification for the state of Maine to infringe on her liberty," he told the Bangor Daily News.

On Monday, Hickox told CBS News chief medical correspondent Dr. Jon LaPook that chief among her concerns and that of others is the seeming ad-hoc way in which these quarantines have been implemented.

"When you're talking about doing the quarantine it seems like audibles are being called, it's being done on the fly," LaPook said. "This is something that has to be thought out."