Situation Report

SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS                                                        Oct. 29, 2014

By Julia Prodis Sulek

California on Wednesday became the latest state to order a 21-day quarantine for travelers who have been in close contact with Ebola patients.

In an attempt to avoid the criticism lodged against New York, New Jersey and Maine that had blanket quarantine orders, however, California will allow county health agencies to impose the quarantine on a case-by-case basis.

By working with county health departments to assess the individual risks, the California Department of Public Health said it "respects the individual circumstances of each traveler while protecting and preserving the public health."

Quarantine can range from observation and monitoring to the "limitation on his or her freedom of movement."

In the Bay Area, a Stanford doctor who returned last week from Liberia where he was treating Ebola patients was already being monitored by the San Mateo County Department of Public Health. The department coordinated with the CDC and San Francisco International Airport when Dr. Colin Bucks arrived late last week. He had no symptoms of the disease and came to an agreement with health officials to avoid contact with others but can leave the house for limited activities, such as jogging alone.

Read complete story

ASSOCIATED PRESS                                      Oct. 29, 2014

By Clarence Roy-Macaulay

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel briefs reporters at the Pentagon, Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2014, on the military health care system. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)

ASSOCIATED PRESS                                  Oct. 29, 2014
By Robert Burns

WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel on Wednesday approved a recommendation by military leaders that all U.S. troops returning from Ebola response missions in West Africa be kept in supervised isolation for 21 days.

 The move goes beyond precautions recommended by the Obama administration for civilians, although President Barack Obama has made clear he feels the military's situation is different from that of civilians, in part because troops are not in West Africa by choice.

In explaining his decision, Hagel noted that the military has more people in Africa helping with the Ebola effort than any other segment of the U.S. government.

 "This is also a policy that was discussed in great detail by the communities, by the families of our military men and women, and they very much wanted a safety valve on this," he said at a public forum in Washington.

RATE OF NEW CASES SEEMS TO BE SLOWING DOWN IN LIBERIAN HOSPITALS.   (Two stories.)

Scroll down

The Ebola field hospital in Bong County, Liberia, which opened in mid-September, has far fewer patients than anticipated. Credit Daniel Berehulak for The New York Times

NEW YORK TIMES                                                              Oct. 29, 2014

By Sheri Fink, MD