NEW YORK – A nurse who treated Ebola patients in Sierra Leone is the first test case of quarantine policies now in effect in three states over heightened fears the deadly virus could be spread by health care workers returning to the United States.
But the sketchy details of how such quarantines will be handled drew sharp criticism from humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders while infectious disease experts said many of the logistics about enforcement are likely still up in the air.
Kaci Hickox, a Doctors Without Borders nurse, remained isolated at a hospital Saturday, a day after she returned to the U.S. and the governors of New York, New Jersey and Illinois announced mandatory 21-day quarantines for arriving travelers who had contact with Ebola patients in West Africa.
Health officials said Hickox was transported to a hospital after running a fever, but the nurse told the Dallas Morning News she was merely flushed because she was upset by a quarantine process she described as treating her like a criminal.
"This is not a situation I would wish on anyone, and I am scared for those who will follow me," Hickox wrote in an essay for the newspaper.
Health officials said preliminary tests for Ebola come back negative for Hickox but Newark University Hospital would not say if she would be released for the balance of the quarantine period or remain in the hospital.
Doctors Without Borders executive director Sophie Delaunay complained about the "notable lack of clarity" from state officials about the quarantine policies.
"We are attempting to clarify the details of the protocols with each state's departments of health to gain a full understanding of their requirements and implications," she said in a statement.
The aid organization said Hickox has not been issued an order of quarantine specifying how long she must be isolated and is being kept in an unheated tent. It urged the "fair and reasonable treatment" of health workers fighting the Ebola outbreak.
Indeed, health officials in all three states with quarantine policies did not return messages Saturday from The Associated Press seeking details about enforcement.
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