MCSO detention officer on 21-day precautionary leave after trip to Ebola-stricken Sierra Leone

Mike Sunnucks

Senior Reporter- Phoenix Business Journal

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A Maricopa County Sheriff's Office detention officer is under a precautionary leave after returning from Sierra Leone, one of the west African countries hit hard by the deadly Ebola virus.

The MCSO officer is not showing signs of the virus and was cleared by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to re-enter the U.S., but the MCSO has him on a 21-day administrative leave as a precaution, according to a memo sent to deputies and staff.

That equals the time period for Ebola quarantines to determine whether patients have the virus.

The U.S. has warnings against travel to Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea.

There have been 1,200 Ebola deaths in Sierra Leone and 4,500 total in those three African countries, according to the CDC and World Health Organization.

Here's the MCSO memo:

"A detention officer has recently returned from a trip to Sierra Leone, one of the West African countries afflicted with the Ebola virus. While he has exhibited no signs of infection, and was cleared by the CDC to re-enter the United States, in order to completely safeguard both our employees and the inmates, we have placed him on administrative leave for 21 days, that being the time prescribed by the CDC to determine whether an individual has the virus."

Mike Sunnucks writes about residential and commercial real estate, government, law, sports business and workplace issues.