CHARLOTTE, N.C. — WCCB Charlotte has learned that Mecklenburg County is monitoring two people who arrived in the county from one of the three countries experiencing widespread Ebola.
The Mecklenburg County Manager’s office sent out an email alert Monday night at 8:36 PM advising residents that these individuals have had no known contact with anyone diagnosed with the Ebola virus. The email states that the individuals are being considered low-risk, and are currently being monitored at home by a communicable disease nurse. Monitoring includes the individuals taking their temperature twice daily for 21 days and reporting to a nurse.
County Manager Dena Diorio spoke to WCCB late Monday night. She did not know what specific country they came from, and could not tell us how long they have been back in the U.S., but says this is not day one of their monitoring.
WCCB Charlotte is asking questions including who the individuals are, where they live in Mecklenburg County, what line of work they are in, why they traveled to West Africa and how far they are into the 21-day monitoring period.
“They are in homes, where they are comfortable, and our public health nurses are contacting them daily for communicating to see if they’ve had any symptoms or any change in their temperature,” said Mecklenburg County Medical Director Dr. Stephen Keener.
“We asked them to monitor their heath and to report into a nurse their temperature twice a day for 21 days, just so we could monitor them,” added Diorio. “They’re low risk patients. We have no reason to believe that they’re sick, or will become sick. This is the protocol that we need to follow.”
That protocol is based on guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the North Carolina Division of Public Health. It’s the same process the county will follow for any new arrivals from West Africa. A spokesperson from Charlotte-based SIM USA tells WCCB the people are not connected to that organization. We’ve also reached out to Samaritan’s Purse.
