Ebola Patient's Family Ordered To Stay Inside In The US After Trying To Leave

The family of the Texas Ebola patient Thomas Eric Duncan have been ordered to stay in their home after violating official's initial request not to leave.

"There were violations of the request to not leave their premises," Dallas judge Clay Jenkins said of the breach that prompted the Texas Department of State Health Services to order the quarantine.

Duncan was staying with family members in Dallas when he became ill and was confined to an isolation unit at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas. His family members, including five school age children, were told to remain at home.

The entire apartment complex is being power washed today.

The order came as authorities track all the people who Duncan is believed to have come in contact with since his arrival. The circle of people who have come into contact with him has grown rapidly from 18 Wednesday night to 100, according to Texas health officials.

"Out of an abundance of caution, we're starting with this very wide net, including people who have had even brief encounters with the patient or the patient's home," Texas Department of State Health Services spokesperson Carrie Wilson said in a statement. "The number will drop as we focus in on those whose contact may represent a potential risk of infection."

A team of 10 experts from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have arrived in Dallas and will be helping the local health officials "find, assess, and assist everyone who came into contact" with Duncan, according to a CDC news release.

Authorities say the family members do not currently have symptoms of Ebola, which include fever above 100.5 degrees, headache, nausea, diarrhea or abdominal pain. The order will continue until at least Oct. 19.

Thompson said he was aware of news reports that Duncan had been vomiting before being admitted to the hospital, but said he was not concerned about the vomiting.

Duncan flew from Liberia to Brussels on Sept. 19. He continued to Washington’s Dulles Airport, before flying to the Dallas-Fort Worth Airport on a United Airlines flight.

Authorities with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have said airline passengers and flight crew members aren’t at risk for Ebola because Duncan wasn’t exhibiting symptoms until days later, but his diagnosis has left residents in Dallas on edge, with scrutiny for Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital, which allowed the man to leave after he told a nurse he had come from West Africa.

Duncan returned to the hospital by ambulance two days later. He remains in an isolation unit, listed in serious condition.

Three ambulance crew members who brought Duncan to the hospital were also tested for Ebola. The tests were negative, but the crew members were sent home and will be monitored for the next three weeks, the city said in a statement.