The Ebola outbreak in Dallas — the first city in the U.S. to experience transmission of the virus — is set to end late in the day Friday, as the last person being monitored for the disease reaches the end of the 21-day incubation period without showing symptoms.
The state health department and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have monitored 117 people who came in contact with the city's three Ebola patients or their specimens or medical waste for possible Ebola symptoms. The monitoring lasts 21 days, as the Ebola virus has a 21-day incubation period. The last person expected to be cleared Friday handled medical waste Oct. 17.
Dallas has been dealing with Ebola since the first patient was diagnosed with the virus Sept. 30. Two healthcare workers subsequently contracted the virus, with the CDC confirming their cases Oct. 12 and Oct. 15.
Even though the outbreak in Dallas is nearing an end, several people are being monitored for Ebola in New York City after a physician who returned from West Africa tested positive for the virus Oct. 23.
Additionally, the outbreak in West Africa is far from over, with the virus claiming the lives of more than 4,800 people as of Nov. 2 since the outbreak started earlier this year.