- Title: USA: Ebola scare at Pentagon after woman vomits in parking lot
- Date: 17th October 2014
- Summary: WASHINGTON D.C., UNITED STATES (OCTOBER 17, 2014) (REUTERS) POLICE VEHICLES PARKED BEHIND SHUTTLE BUS (WHITE BUS WITH THE WORD 'KELLER' ON IT) MARINES STANDING OUTSIDE BUS WIDE OF PARKED BUSES, CORDONED OFF AREA SHOT OF BUSES SHOT OF POLICE CAR (SOUNDBITE) (English) LIEUTENANT COLONEL ERIC DENT, SAYING: "I guess at first it seemed like an overreaction. The more I thought about it, I am like, hey, you know what, this is important. Let's determine if anyone had any physical contact with the passenger in question. Once we got to that point where we realized nobody had any physical contact with her, then, I think they've done the appropriate steps. They've got our contact information. They've talked to us about monitoring our temperatures and - if we have any spike in temperatures - to contact the health department, so I feel very comfortable with how it was handled." CORDONED OFF STREET SHOT OF WHITE SHUTTLE BUS LEAVING
- Embargoed: 1st November 2014 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Usa
- Country: USA
- Topics: Health
- Reuters ID: LVA3KTPAPG99REVTKQKFEERWJ7B8
- Story Text: The Pentagon confirmed an Ebola scare on Friday (October 17) in one of its parking lots when a women who recently traveled to Africa vomited after getting off a bus headed to a high-level Marine Corps ceremony.
Few details were immediately available about the woman, who was described by one defense official as a civilian and not a Defense Department employee. Officials said they did not know exactly where she had traveled to in Africa or whether she had a fever.
The Pentagon said she was taken to Inova Fairfax Hospital at 9:53 a.m. (1353 GMT), 43 minutes after Pentagon police identified her.
Aerial images of the hospital showed a giant yellow containment tent on the hospital premises surrounded by emergency vehicles.
The bus that the woman got on to was a shuttle used by the Pentagon to carry Marines to a Passage of Command ceremony at the Marine Barracks in Washington D.C.
Some passengers said the woman, dressed in civilian attire, boarded the parked bus at the Pentagon and possibly used the bathroom and then got off before getting sick in the parking lot.
After the woman departed, the bus continued toward the ceremony, but as it approached the Marine Barracks, was placed under quarantine. The 22 passengers aboard were transferred to another bus for about four hours.
Some passengers told media that nobody aboard the bus had any physical contact with the woman.
Lieutenant Colonel Eric Dent, a passenger on the bus, said he was satisfied with the precautionary measures taken by health officials.
"I guess at first it seemed like an overreaction. The more I thought about it, I am like, hey you know what, this is important. Let's determine if anyone had any physical contact with the passenger in question. Once we got to that point where we realized nobody had any physical contact with her, then, I think they've done the appropriate steps. They've got our contact information. They've talked to us about monitoring our temperatures and - if we have any spike in temperatures - to contact the health department, so I feel very comfortable with how it was handled," Dent said, speaking to media outside the Marine Barracks.
The passengers have been placed on a 21-day monitoring period. If health officials confirm that the woman does not have Ebola the monitoring period would be waived, a marine aboard the same bus told media.
The current status of the first bus was unclear. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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