MOSCOW, October 25 (RIA Novosti) - The governor in the US state of Illinois has ordered a mandatory 21-day home quarantine for travelers who have been exposed to the Ebola outbreak while in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, the state authority said in a statement.
"The mandatory quarantine order includes any high-risk medical personnel who have performed medical services to individuals infected with the Ebola virus," it said.
The order, dated Friday, is to be implemented by local health departments across the state. It was issued to every local health department in Illinois.
It cited Illinois Governor Pat Quinn as saying that this measure "is too important to be voluntary." Previously all high-risk travelers were subject to a voluntary quarantine.
"We must take every step necessary to ensure the people of Illinois are protected from potential exposure to the Ebola virus. While we have no confirmed cases of the Ebola virus in Illinois, we will continue to take every safeguard necessary to protect first responders, healthcare workers and the people of Illinois," Quinn said.
Earlier in the day, governors of New York and New Jersey said they had agreed to impose a mandatory 21-day quarantine for individuals arriving at JFK and Newark Liberty International airports from Ebola-hit countries.
The Ebola virus is transmitted through direct contact with the bodily fluids of those infected. The incubation period from time of infection to symptoms is 2 to 21 days. The current Ebola outbreak began in southern Guinea in the beginning of this year and later spread to Liberia, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, and Senegal.
According to WHO, over 4,900 people have lost their lives to Ebola, while some 10,141 confirmed, probable and suspected cases have been reported in Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Spain and the United States.
