Ebola Kentucky Congo African Ebola Infected Refugees Arrive

“This is really, right now, in an area in the Northeast, fairly remote part of the county, in the Democratic Republic of Congo. However, there are concerns that it could spread.”

Dr. Humbaugh says monitoring the health of people entering Kentucky, could be the Commonwealth’s best defense to keeping the virus out.

“We are notified about who those folks are and they check in with us, and we evaluate them for risk factors and then we monitor them, they agree to be monitored for a 21-day period.”

Monitoring includes checking travelers’ temperature and checking for symptoms.

“We’ve already monitored a person in Lexington this year, and we expect that we will have other travelers that return from that area that will be monitored.”

The health department is following guidance from state and federal health agencies to monitor returning travelers from Ebola-affected areas of Africa.

Travelers returning from an outbreak area will be monitored for a 21-day period. The process is similar to public health monitoring for Ebola infection done during the last major outbreak of the virus on the African continent in 2014.

According to the Health Department, no travelers have shown any signs of Ebola, and most are expected to be at low-risk for contracting the virus.

The Lexington-Fayette County Health department has announced partnerships with the Center for Disease Control and Prevention as well as the Kentucky Department of Public Health to monitor those returning from ebola-affected areas of Africa for 21 days.

Health officials say the precaution is being taken to help ensure the safety of not only travelers but also the surrounding community.