Health Precautions Taken by Travelers to Countries with Ebola Virus Disease

摘要

To the Editor: To facilitate early recognition ofEbola virus disease (EVD), the New York City Departmentof Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) activelymonitored persons who had recently traveled from anEVD-affected country (1,2). Clinical manifestations ofEVD are nonspecific and can resemble common travelassociatedillnesses, such as malaria and influenza, bothof which are potentially preventable through use of certainhealth precautions (3,4). Given the consequences ofmissing an EVD diagnosis, symptomatic persons underactive monitoring who actually have non-EVD illnessesare often first isolated and tested for Ebola virus, whichcan delay appropriate care for the true cause of their illnessand consume substantial resources. We evaluatedthe health precautions taken by persons traveling toEVD-affected countries.