As one American was admitted to the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center in Bethesda, Md., Friday to be treated for Ebola after contracting the virus in Sierra Leone, a second American who had potential exposure to that patient is being transported to Atlanta to be close to Emory University Hospital.
Because one American did test positive for Ebola, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is conducting contact tracing of people in Sierra Leone who may have been exposed to the index patient and is developing contingency plans "out of an abundance of caution" to get Americans who were potentially exposed back to the U.S. via noncommercial air transport. The people will then voluntarily self-isolate.
According to the CDC, the individual being flown to Atlanta has not shown signs of Ebola or been diagnosed with the virus. "Upon arrival in Atlanta, the individual will voluntarily self-isolate and be under direct active monitoring for the 21-day incubation period," a CDC statement reads.
Emory University Hospital has treated Ebola patients in the past and is one of the 55 Ebola treatment centers recognized by the CDC.