An Ebola scare on Friday caused police to shut down a Pentagon entrance and a portion of the parking lot after a woman who recently had been to West Africa got sick and threw up on a bus ride to an event.
The woman, who currently is being quarantined at a Virginia hospital, told officers she had been in Liberia two weeks ago, Pentagon spokesman Lt. Col. Tom Crosson said.
Some Pentagon police officers did have 'contact' with her before the hazmat teams arrived and before she was taken to the Inova Fairfax Hospital Emergency Department for evaluation, Crosson said.
A statement from the hospital said she is being evaluated.
'The patient was immediately isolated and is undergoing triage in consultation with the Fairfax County Health Department,' a spokesperson for the hospital said. 'Based upon that evaluation, a decision will be made by the health department as to whether the patient meets the criteria to be tested for the Ebola virus.'
There has been some question as to whether the passengers on the bus have been cleared to leave.
A military official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the woman, who has not been named, works for Total Spectrum, whose website says it is a lobbying and public relations firm. Managing Director Steve Gordon told bberitaa.blogspot.com the Pentagon had contacted him, and he claimed the woman had not been out of the Washington area.
The official said the woman was on a Metro bus, and transferred to a shuttle bus taking guests to a ceremony for Gen. Joe Dunford, who is taking over as commandant of the Marine Corps. She got off the shuttle before it left the Pentagon parking lot and then vomited. The official said it did not immediately appear that she was invited to the ceremony.
Officials notified the FBI and were checking the woman's background and travel.
What caused the woman to become sick is unclear. Ebola is only transmitted through direct contact with a victim's bodily fluids. There has been only one case of a person diagnosed with Ebola in the United States after travel to West Africa. Hundreds of suspicious cases have turned out to be false alarms.
Meanwhile, sources say the condition of all four Ebola patients currently in the U.S. - including two Texas nurses - is 'stable.'
bberitaa.blogspot.com contributed to this article.
Posted by Unknown on Friday, October 17, 2014 - Rating: 4.5
0 comments "Sick woman causes Ebola scare at Pentagon, patient being evaluated"
Post a Comment