New Jersey Enforces Isolation Order For NBC Crew
TRENTON, NJ. (AP) -- New Jersey officials issued a mandatory quarantine order Friday night for members of an NBC crew that was exposed to a cameraman with Ebola after they said a voluntary 21-day isolation agreement was violated.
The state Health Department told The Associated Press the crew remains symptom-free and that there is no reason for concern of exposure to the deadly virus to the community. Citing privacy concerns, department spokeswoman Donna Leusner would not give further details, including who violated the agreement and how the state learned of a violation.
An NBC representative did not immediately respond to a message late Friday from the AP seeking comment.
The crew included the network's chief medical editor and correspondent, Dr. Nancy Snyderman, who lives in New Jersey.
Snyderman was reporting in Liberia about the Ebola outbreak in West Africa with Ashoka Mukpo, a freelance cameraman who was infected with the disease. He is now being treated in Omaha, Nebraska. The director of the Nebraska Medical Center's isolation unit said Friday that Mukpo's condition was "slightly improved."
After Mukpo, who lives in Providence, Rhode Island, came down with the disease on Oct. 1, NBC announced that the rest of its crew working with him would voluntarily be isolated for 21 days.
In a phone interview with "Today" last week, Snyderman said all the gear she and her crew used was being disinfected because they all shared work space and vehicles. She said she believed she and her team were at a low risk because they have been "hyper-vigilant."
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that people exposed to the virus develop symptoms two to 21 days after their exposure. The risk of exposure for other members of the NBC crew was considered to be low.
The isolation deal was made with the CDC, and state and local health officials. "Unfortunately, the NBC crew violated this agreement and so the Department of Health today issued a mandatory quarantine order to ensure that the crew will remain confined until Oct. 22," the state Health Department said in a statement.
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