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Ohio Watching 142 People—Though Fewer Had Close, Direct Contact with Ebola Patient

Ohio Department of Health
Ohio Department of Health

Health workers continue to trace the steps nurse Amber Vinson's took through Northeast Ohio before she boarded a plane with a slight temperature and flew to Dallas, where she was diagnosed with Ebola.

They've contacted people she met, people on her flights to and from Cleveland and people who were in a bridal shop she visited with friends.

The health department is keeping an eye on more than 100 people. So far, state epidemiologist Dr. Mary DiOrio said, all are well.

"We have no cases of Ebola in Ohio," Diorio said, "and there are no individuals who have been contacted who have developed any illness."

Meaning they can't transmit the virus, health experts have said.

Not everyone is under the same level of scrutiny, because they're not equally at risk. Three are under strict quarantine -- they shook her hand, embraced her or had other physical contact while she said she was feeling "funny."

Others, who were near Vinson for more than an hour, CAN leave their homes, but they'll get a daily checkup from their local health department. They need special permission to travel -- and they'll have to do it by car.

"For the higher level tiers, we are recommending no commercial conveyances," she said. "So (no) airplanes, buses, those sorts of things.

People with lesser levels of contact are monitoring themselves for symptoms.

The incubation period for Ebola is 21 days or less. So if no new cases crop up in the state between now and Nov. 4, health officials say, Ohio will be in the clear.

Nick Castele was a senior reporter covering politics and government for Ideastream Public Media. He worked as a reporter for Ideastream from 2012-2022.