A Rock Island family is in voluntary isolation in its home after a relative arrived there from Ebola-stricken Liberia, officials confirmed Monday.
Because Philips' daughter, Jennifer, who traveled through O'Hare International Airport on Oct. 11 on her way from Liberia, reported no exposure to Ebola and showed no sign of illness, a mandatory quarantine is not legally or scientifically supported under current protocols, local health officials said.
But Theresa Berg, health department administrator for Rock Island County, which borders Iowa in western Illinois, requested the voluntary isolation as "an extra precaution for safety," according to an online statement.
Barhyeau Philips said neither he, Jennifer, 21, nor the rest of his family has any fever or symptoms, but he agreed to the isolation to allay any concerns.
"If she makes sure she's Ebola-free, I'll be fine with it," he said in a telephone interview.
Philips said his family came to the U.S. as refugees in 2004. His daughter later went back to Liberia, but returned this month by flights through Brussels, New York City and Chicago. Upon arrival at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, Philips said, his daughter was questioned, had her temperature taken and was cleared to enter the country.
She came in on a visa that she had been trying to get since long before the latest Ebola outbreak, he said. He felt that news media have been over-hyping Ebola concerns to make money.
After becoming aware through local media reports of Jennifer Philips' arrival, Augustana officials said they asked the local health department for guidance.
The local department requested the voluntary quarantine "to avoid disruptions" at Augustana and at Rock Island High School, which Jennifer's sister attends, Berg wrote. County officials gave thermometers to check for fever to the family, which will also check twice daily for any other symptoms.
In the statement, Berg wrote that she is trying to avoid both "a false sense of security" and "unnecessary fear."
An estimated 150 people travel to the U.S. every day from the three countries most affected by Ebola — Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone — with perhaps about 25 of those arriving in Chicago, Illinois Department of Public Health spokeswoman Melaney Arnold said.
The department has fielded numerous calls across the state asking about potential exposure, Arnold said, but without confirmed illness or exposure, there has not been any mandatory quarantine or testing.
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