Ebola Prevention Tips North Texans Need to Know From the CDC

The first confirmed U.S. case of Ebola in Dallas, Texas has many North Texans a little worried. However, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention appear confident that the disease, which has killed more than 3,000 people in West Africa, will not have the same impact in the U.S.

“Ebola can be scary. But there’s all the difference in the world between the U.S. and parts of Africa where Ebola is spreading. The United States has a strong health care system and public health professionals who will make sure this case does not threaten our communities,” said CDC Director, Dr. Tom Frieden, M.D., M.P.H. “While it is not impossible that there could be additional cases associated with this patient in the coming weeks, I have no doubt that we will contain this.”

“We know how to stop Ebola’s further spread: thorough case finding, isolation of ill people, contacting people exposed to the ill person, and further isolation of contacts if they develop symptoms,” said the CDC in a statement.

The CDC maintains a list of 6 steps to minimize the contagion risks.

Here are the preventive measures posted by the CDC on its website:

1. Practice careful hygiene. Avoid contact with blood and body fluids.
2. Do not handle items that may have come in contact with an infected person’s blood or body fluids.
3. Avoid funeral or burial rituals that require handling the body of someone who has died from Ebola.
4. Avoid contact with bats and nonhuman primates or blood, fluids, and raw meat prepared from these animals.
5. Avoid hospitals where Ebola patients are being treated. (At this point, this is limited to the Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital of Dallas located at 8200 Walnut Hill Lane, Dallas, TX 75231)
6. After you return from a site with known Ebola cases, monitor your health for 21 days and seek medical care immediately if you develop symptoms of Ebola.