WASHINGTON, October 1 (RIA Novosti) - School-aged children have been in contact with the first US Ebola patient before his diagnosis was confirmed, Texas Governor Rick Perry said Wednesday.
"Today we learned that some school-age children had been identified as having had contact with the patient and are now being monitored at home for any signs of the disease," Perry said, talking at a press conference at the Texas Health Presbyterian hospital.
Five children were potentially exposed to the Ebola virus at the home of the patient last weekend. The children are not under quarantine but are being closely monitored and have been asked to remain in their homes.
However, Perry said that the disease could not be transmitted before the patient began to display symptoms, emphasizing that the Texas hospital was well-equipped to prevent an outbreak.
The first case of Ebola in the US was confirmed by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Texas Health Department in Dallas on Tuesday. Prior to that, the patient's symptoms were not clear according to a disease specialist at the Presbyterian hospital.
The patient is believed to have contracted the Ebola Virus while he was in Liberia two weeks ago.
Ebola is a potentially deadly virus which has claimed the lives of over 3,000 people since the outbreak in West Africa was first reported in March.
