With Ebola in mind, Indiana is monitoring six people who've traveled to the state from West Africa, where more than 10,000 have been infected with the deadly virus this year.
"The State of Indiana is going above and beyond the recommendations of the CDC and working closely with our local health departments to actively monitor travelers at even the low-risk level," State Health Epidemiologist Pam Pontones said in a statement released Wednesday.
According to the Indianapolis Star, the "direct active monitoring" asks local health departments to take the temperatures of the six people twice a day for 21 days. A fever is usually the first sign of an Ebola infection, and anyone running one has been asked to contact health officials right away. Infected patients are only contagious when they develop symptoms, the health officials said.
The monitoring policy was put into place on October 16, and two other individuals have completed their monitoring and been cleared. All of the six persons currently being monitored are considered low risk.
Along with the statement about the direct monitoring, the department also released general information about Ebola, including how it is and is not spread.
"The Ebola virus is not spread through the air, by water or food, or by casual contact. People with Ebola can only spread the Ebola virus when they have symptoms. There is no known risk of transmission if someone does not have symptoms. Ebola is only spread through direct contact with blood or body fluids (including but not limited to urine, saliva, feces, vomit and semen, or a needlestick) of a person who is sick with Ebola or the body of a person who has died from Ebola."
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.