Denton County health officials are working to fight Ebola fear with facts.
Even as a trio of confirmed U.S. cases have occurred, and the public’s trust is in question, Denton County Health Department Director Matt Richardson is urging calm and providing information to deal with the virus threat.
“We can’t allow pandemonium or panic to dictate the response. We have to be grounded in what we know about the transmission of the disease, not necessarily what people are most worried about,” he said.
So far there have been no confirmed Denton County cases of Ebola, although a handful of people are being monitored, Richardson said.
“Denton County residents who have been exposed to one or more of the Ebola cases, all as of [Friday] are asymptomatic and not showing signs of the disease,” he said.
“The two methods of exposure were family members or health care workers associated with the cases.”
The Ebola virus is spread only by direct contact with someone who is exhibiting symptoms.
“The science really hasn’t changed since Ebola was discovered,” he said. “As of today, the most common way to get Ebola is to be exposed to blood, vomit, feces, with blood being by far the most infectious agent of an Ebola patient.
“This is a key point, the only way you can be exposed to the disease is to be exposed to someone symptomatic with the disease. What changes is a contact becomes positive or symptomatic, then these contacts become people we monitor.”
The monitoring is no different than what health officials would do in cases of tuberculosis, a sexually transmitted disease or an outbreak of a food-borne illness, he said.
Africa does not mean Ebola, Richardson stressed as well.
“We have had a lot of calls about potential travelers to and from other countries in Africa from South Africa to Botswana to Benin,” he said.
“Those don’t represent a current risk of exposure [because] they do not have ongoing outbreaks of Ebola. Just because someone has traveled to the continent of Africa, doesn’t mean risk.
“However, recent travel to Sierra Leone, Guinea and Nigeria does represent a potential risk, as those countries do have an uncontrolled outbreak of Ebola.”
Richardson said there are not any reasons to close schools or workplaces locally that have employees who were a contact of a contact.
“To our knowledge, all Ebola cases have been direct contact to an Ebola patient,” he said.
That hasn’t stopped some businesses from taking steps. This week, two Denton-based Sally Beauty Supply territory managers who were on the Oct. 13 Frontier Airlines flight from Cleveland to Dallas with 29-year-old Amber Joy Vinson were sent home.
Vinson is a nurse who treated Thomas Eric Duncan, the first confirmed U.S. case of Ebola, after he came to the U.S. from Liberia. Duncan died at a Dallas hospital on Oct. 8. Vinson is another confirmed case who has been transported to Emory University in Atlanta for treatment.
“Both are well and have not shown any signs or symptoms of the virus,” David Chamberlin, executive vice president and general manager of Edelman Dallas, said in an emailed statement Friday afternoon.
“While the CDC is aware of their travel and, importantly, has indicated there is no need for alarm, out of an abundance of caution, we have decided to have them work from home for 21 days from the date of the flight.”
The Lewisville school district first issued a letter to parents on Thursday after the district was notified that two community members related to three students and a staff member traveled on the same Frontier Airlines plane as the individuals from Sally Beauty Supply.
Richardson told the district there is no reason to quarantine anyone and there is no reason to close a school, according to the statement from the school district.
“We want to assure you that no student or staff member has had contact with the Ebola virus,” the district said in a follow-up statement issued Friday afternoon.
“Additionally, no student or staff member was on Frontier Airlines Flight 1142 on Oct. 10 or Flight 1143 on Oct. 13.”
The Denton County Health Department is not monitoring any of the school district’s more than 53,000 students or any of the 6,000 staff members.
“Therefore, no student or staff member is at risk to contract the Ebola virus,” the district said.
Mario Zavala, Denton school district spokesman, said that should Ebola reach the district, officials will be following the same guidelines as the Lewisville school district by adhering to the health department and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention protocols.
Despite what has happened, Richardson said he believes hospitals have the training and equipment to deal with the virus.
Courtney Kennedy, spokeswoman for Denton Regional Medical Center, said in the past two weeks, the hospital has seen normal/average emergency room visits for this time of year.
At Denton Regional, she said, all patients are screened for potential infectious disease signs and symptoms.
“We ask any patient or visitor with flu-like symptoms to enter through our emergency department,” she said.
“Our physicians and clinical staff have the training, processes, facilities and equipment in place to keep our patients and staff safe.”
In addition, Kennedy said the hospital has specific practices in place to help identify and manage potential cases, including screening and isolation of patients who exhibit symptoms and have recently traveled to affected areas.
Melissa Smart, spokeswoman for Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Denton, said the hospital also hasn’t seen an influx of patients at the facility.
In the future, when looking back on the handling of the Ebola situation, Richardson said there will be criticisms and critics of public health’s performance, that these will be places where they know they could have done better.
“And we understand that,” he said. “At this point we will continue to follow recommendations on how to contain infectious diseases, and [we’re] going to make sure in Denton County we continue to talk about risk and talk about preparedness plans and do our best.”
Fire officials from agencies across the county are not reporting any additional calls either.
Lewisville Fire Department Assistant Fire Chief Terry McGrath said the department averages about 130 medical calls a week and none of them have been a suspected case of Ebola.
Denton Fire Department has only had one call about the virus, and Kenneth Hedges, spokesman for the department, said none of the staff made contact with the caller making the claims.
The family drove to Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas, he said.
The callers went through an initial pre-screening process at the hospital and were sent home since the family did not meet any of the criteria to be possibly infected, he said.
Mass transit has been a concern since Duncan’s case was confirmed, officials said.
Friday, Dallas Area Rapid Transit alerted passengers that two of its employees were considered “low-risk” after having some sort of interaction with one of the confirmed cases.
Kristina Brevard, a spokeswoman for Denton County Transportation Authority, said the agency is constantly monitoring the ongoing concerns and value the customers health and safety.
DART and DCTA have connecting lines in downtown Carrollton.
To her knowledge, none of their customers rode with the DART bus operator who officials said was “low-risk” Friday morning.
“We are taking extra precautionary measures and disinfecting our buses and trains on a nightly basis,” Brevard said. “This is more than what we typically do.”
Diana Price was out enjoying the downtown Square in Denton on her “early day off” with her husband Friday when she told the Denton Record-Chronicle she did not think the government was doing enough to protect the citizens.
“Our borders should have been secure once they heard of the pandemic,” the resident of Celina said. “It’s never too late. We need to secure our borders now.”
Price said she and her husband are more cautious these days, and are using hand sanitizer more than ever before. She also said the government should go back to physicals like her grandparents had when they traveled from Ireland to Ellis Island.
“They had to be completely screened, up to date on shots ... just to make sure they weren’t bringing any infectious disease over,” Price said.
“It’s something that should have never been stopped. People are just allowed to come and go whenever and wherever they please now.”
Denton resident Peter Reidy said there are more things “out there” that kill more people than the Ebola virus has.
“Since it’s not a strain of the flu — which is way more deadly — I am not nearly as concerned about it,” Reidy said.
“I’m not terribly happy all three cases are right here in Dallas, though.”
Richardson said the plan he speaks of has been in place for more than 10 years, including in general plans for dangerous diseases.
“Those plans are being constantly updated in a draft format to include the latest information as late as this week,” he said.
Information was added on how to put on and take off protective personal equipment.
“It’s in a state of constant update and as information becomes available, we try to get that to our partners as quickly as possible,” Richardson said. “We’re learning best practices daily, trying to find the latest and greatest information from those agencies in response and tailor those to our plans in Denton County and forwarding them to our partners.”
WHAT TO KNOW
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, symptoms of Ebola may appear anywhere from two to 21 days after exposure to the virus, but the average is eight to 10 days. Symptoms of Ebola include:
fever (greater than 101.5 degrees)
severe headache
muscle pain
weakness
diarrhea
vomiting
abdominal pain
unexplained hemorrhage (bleeding or bruising)
Recovery depends on good supportive clinical care and the patient’s immune response. People who recover from Ebola infection develop antibodies that last for at least 10 years.
For more information, call the Denton County Health Department at 940-349-2900, or visit http://dentoncounty.com/health or www.cdc.gov.
