Compassion urged as 51 in Dallas end Ebola monitoring

Dozens of Dallas residents who had contact with the only U.S.-diagnosed Ebola fatality were headed back into their communities Monday after their 21-day monitoring period concluded without any signs of the virus.

As of late afternoon, 51 people had been cleared and 116 were still being monitored.

Judge Clay Jenkins, Dallas County's top elected official and the face of the Ebola struggle there, pleaded with residents to be welcoming to those resuming their normal lives, including five children who will return to school this week. Jenkins stressed that the group, a mix of health care workers, household contacts and community members, posed no threat to the public.

"We have to believe in the science," Jenkins said. "This is a defining moment for Dallas. The world is watching Dallas. Dallas must show grace and compassion."

The group includes Louise Troh and several other friends and family members of Thomas Eric Duncan, the Liberian man who was diagnosed with Ebola last month at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas. Duncan died Oct. 8. Troh's family had been confined under armed guard for 21 days — the maximum incubation period for Ebola.

"I want to breathe, I want to really grieve, I want privacy with my family," Troh told the Associated Press shortly before the family was released from quarantine.

Jenkins said Troh and her family were extremely helpful, working with health officials in the effort to limit the risk of spreading the virus.

"These are people who need our compassion, our respect and our love," Jenkins said. "Treat them the way you would like your family to be treated."

Jenkins said another contact will clear the monitoring period later Monday. Four more will be cleared in the next few days based on their last known contact with Duncan.

Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings said the remaining people on the Ebola watch list would be cleared from observation by Nov. 7, he said.

"There is no question today is a milestone day," Rawlings said. "But there are more hurdles we need to jump."

At a news conference later Monday, nurses voiced "Presby pride" for the hospital and the nursing staff, which has faced criticism for alleged lapses that led to the infection of two nurses who helped treat Duncan. One mentioned inaccuracies in some media coverage but offered no specifics.

"Our hospital is safe," another said. "We have the greatest nursing staff in the world."

The nurses did not answer questions, citing several reviews being conducted.

The two nurses who treated Duncan are now being treated at specialized centers at Atlanta's Emory Hospital and at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md.

On Sunday, the health care worker who was being monitored for signs of Ebola aboard a Carnival Cruise Lines ship passed a blood test and was allowed to leave with other passengers when the ship docked Sunday in Texas, health officials said. The woman had handled lab specimens from Duncan.

Authorities in Belize on Thursday had refused to let the woman leave the ship for what would have been a precautionary medical helicopter flight home. On Friday, the ship was refused clearance to dock in Cozumel, Mexico, because the woman was aboard.

Health officials announced Monday that a third, anonymous Ebola patient who was being treated at Emory University was discharged Sunday. No details were released.

The man, who asked not to be identified, was declared to be virus free and no threat to public health. He went to an undisclosed location and plans to make a statement at a later date.

The patient had contracted the virus in Africa and was evacuated to Atlanta.

The Pentagon joined the fight against Ebola on Sunday, announcing plans for a 30-person, rapid-response Ebola medical support team to aid civilian health care workers should additional cases of the virus be diagnosed in the U.S.

The Ebola outbreak has been centered in West Africa, where it had infected about 9,000 people and killed about 5,000 as of last week, according to the World Health Organization. WHO said about 1,000 new cases were appearing a week, a number that could rise tenfold by December.

WHO did have good news to share Monday, announcing that Nigeria is free of Ebola virus transmission.

"This is a spectacular success story that shows that Ebola can be contained," WHO country director Rui Gama Vaz said. "But we must be clear that we only won a battle. The war will only end when West Africa is also declared free of Ebola."

Contributing: Michael Winter