5 U.S. aid workers monitored and quarantined for Ebola in Omaha released

The Ebola outbreak continues to ravage West Africa 

Five American aid workers being observed and monitored at the Biocontainment Unit at the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) in Omaha, Nebraska for exposure to the deadly Ebola virus have completed their quarantine periods free from symptoms of the deadly virus and have been released.

The biocontainment Unit at UNMC

Nebraska Medical Center spokesman Taylor Wilson said Tuesday that four of the individuals who were brought to Omaha earlier this month for monitoring have already left the area. 

The fifth, who developed a heart problem Saturday and required CPR, has now been discharged from the hospital and will soon also leave Omaha.

The U.S. health care missionary workers were exposed to Ebola in Sierra Leone in West Africa when one of their colleagues became ill with the deadly virus. 

They were staying on the Nebraska Medical Center's campus while in quarantine. Ebola has a 21-day incubation period before showing signs and symptoms of an infection.

The Omaha hospital has already treated three patients with Ebola last fall in its specialized Level-4 Biocontainment Unit. Two of the patients survived while a third died of serious complications from the deadly viral infection.

References:

• NewEurope—5 US aid workers being monitored for Ebola at Nebraska hospital released with no symptoms (3/31/15)
• Chicago Tribune—5 U.S. aid workers monitored for Ebola in Nebraska released (3/31/15)
• Medicine of Omaha—Patient exposed to the Ebola virus hospitalized in Omaha (1/5/15)
• Medicine of Omaha—UNMC's third Ebola patient, Dr. Martin Salia, dies in Omaha (11/18/14)
• Medicine of Omaha—The second patient treated for Ebola at the UNMC in Omaha has been released after testing negative for the virus (10/23/14)
• Medicine of Omaha—Dr. Rick Sacra back home after leaving Nebraska Medical Center (9/26/14)