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Ebola Patient in Dallas Lied on Screening Form, Liberian Airport Official Says Ebola Patient in Dallas Lied on Screening Form, Liberian Airport Official Says
(about 2 hours later)
MONROVIA, Liberia — Thomas E. Duncan, the Liberian man who developed Ebola symptoms in Dallas after flying from Liberia to the United States last month, lied about his history of contact with the disease on an airport questionnaire meant to screen out passengers who might be carrying the virus and is subject to prosecution when he returns, Binyah Kesselly, chairman of the Liberia Airport Authority, said Thursday. MONROVIA, Liberia — Thomas E. Duncan, the Liberian man who developed Ebola symptoms in Dallas after flying from Liberia last month, lied about his history of contact with the disease on an airport questionnaire meant to screen out passengers who might be carrying the virus and is subject to prosecution when he returns, Binyah Kesselly, chairman of the Liberia Airport Authority, said Thursday.
When Mr. Duncan flew out of Roberts International Airport in Monrovia, the Liberian capital, on Sept. 19, he answered “no” to a question about whether he had had contact with any person who might have been stricken with Ebola in the past 21 days, the maximum period of incubation for Ebola, Mr. Kesselly said.When Mr. Duncan flew out of Roberts International Airport in Monrovia, the Liberian capital, on Sept. 19, he answered “no” to a question about whether he had had contact with any person who might have been stricken with Ebola in the past 21 days, the maximum period of incubation for Ebola, Mr. Kesselly said.
“He lied on his form,” Mr. Kesselly said. “If he had answered truthfully, he would have been sent to secondary screening immediately and not allowed to leave.”“He lied on his form,” Mr. Kesselly said. “If he had answered truthfully, he would have been sent to secondary screening immediately and not allowed to leave.”
Mr. Kesselly said Mr. Duncan would be prosecuted upon his return for lying on the questionnaire. Mr. Kesselly said Mr. Duncan would be prosecuted upon his return.
In a teleconference with reporters, Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the United States, declined to answer when asked about Mr. Kesselly’s report that Mr. Duncan had lied on his questionnaire. But he did suggest that people often do not understand their level of exposure to infectious diseases.
“The status of his possible exposures is something that is being investigated now,” Dr. Frieden said.
C.D.C. officials said they were able to find the record of Mr. Duncan’s airport screening in Monrovia when he left the country and, with a temperature of 97.3 degrees, it clearly indicated that he did not have a fever.
The exit form used in all three countries in West Africa where the disease is rampant — Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone — asks about exposure, either at a funeral or as part of caregiving, to people who might have Ebola, Dr. Frieden said.
“Individuals often don’t know what their exposures might have been, and not all people disclose what those exposures might have been,” he said.
The circumstances under which Mr. Duncan became infected illustrate just how dire the situation remains in West Africa.
On Wednesday, in the Monrovia neighborhood where Mr. Duncan lives, neighbors and the parents of Marthalene Williams, 19, a woman who died of Ebola on Sept. 16, said Mr. Duncan had helped the family take her to and from John F. Kennedy Memorial Hospital a day earlier after she started convulsing.On Wednesday, in the Monrovia neighborhood where Mr. Duncan lives, neighbors and the parents of Marthalene Williams, 19, a woman who died of Ebola on Sept. 16, said Mr. Duncan had helped the family take her to and from John F. Kennedy Memorial Hospital a day earlier after she started convulsing.
Ms. Williams, who was seven months pregnant, was turned away from the hospital for lack of space in its Ebola treatment ward, so Mr. Duncan helped carry Ms. Williams from a taxi to her home, holding her legs, after she grew too weak to walk, the family and neighbors said.Ms. Williams, who was seven months pregnant, was turned away from the hospital for lack of space in its Ebola treatment ward, so Mr. Duncan helped carry Ms. Williams from a taxi to her home, holding her legs, after she grew too weak to walk, the family and neighbors said.
She died around 3 a.m., hours after she arrived home, said her parents, Amie and Emmanuel Williams. Mr. Duncan left Liberia three days later, flying out of Monrovia to Dallas after a layover in Brussels.She died around 3 a.m., hours after she arrived home, said her parents, Amie and Emmanuel Williams. Mr. Duncan left Liberia three days later, flying out of Monrovia to Dallas after a layover in Brussels.
Mr. Duncan, who is a family friend and also a tenant in a house owned by the Williams family, rode in the front passenger seat of the taxi, her family said. Ms. Williams, her father and her brother, Sonny Boy, shared the back seat.Mr. Duncan, who is a family friend and also a tenant in a house owned by the Williams family, rode in the front passenger seat of the taxi, her family said. Ms. Williams, her father and her brother, Sonny Boy, shared the back seat.
Sonny Boy Williams became symptomatic about a week ago, around the same time that Mr. Duncan first showed symptoms of Ebola, on Sept. 24. He died on Wednesday shortly after an ambulance came to pick him up from the family home.Sonny Boy Williams became symptomatic about a week ago, around the same time that Mr. Duncan first showed symptoms of Ebola, on Sept. 24. He died on Wednesday shortly after an ambulance came to pick him up from the family home.
In addition to the two men, Ms. Williams spread the virus to two other women in the cluster of houses near her family home, volunteers in a local Ebola task force said. One of those women also died on Wednesday.In addition to the two men, Ms. Williams spread the virus to two other women in the cluster of houses near her family home, volunteers in a local Ebola task force said. One of those women also died on Wednesday.
Dr. Frieden said the focus on the way Mr. Duncan answered the question about exposure was part of a bigger and more complicated dilemma facing many nations that want to protect their own people.
“The plain truth,” he said, is that “we can’t make the risk zero until the outbreak is controlled in West Africa. What we can do is minimize the risk.”
He said that in September alone, around a dozen people were prevented from boarding planes in West Africa because they had a fever. Many of them did not have Ebola, but the screening indicated the level of vigilance in West Africa.
“Should we be isolating these countries in some way?” he asked. “It is a tough question.”