Newark Airport, NJ Hospitals Prepared to Fight Ebola Outbreak

Newark Liberty International Airport has been declared one of just 20 quarantine stations around the country designed to combat the deadly international Ebola epidemic and identify potential cases before they leave the airport.

This is a preventative measure designed to combat the catastrophic outbreak which continues to affect people around the world, including one individual in the U.S.

While there are currently no direct flights from Africa arriving in Newark, flights arriving from Egypt, Ghana, Morocco, Nigeria, Senegal, and South Africa continue to fly into JFK airport, potentially putting bordering states, like New Jersey, at risk.

Despite the fact that an Ebola patient, a man from Texas who had recently returned from Liberia, has been diagnosed with Ebola while on American soil, New Jersey doctors such as Dr. Angela Oates of Salem County, are stating that the chance of the disease spreading in the U.S. is very unlikely.

“Part of the reason why it’s spreading [in West Africa] is because their infection control process is pretty much non-existent,” Oates told NJ.com. “I wouldn’t worry. It’s nothing to be alarmed about.”

However, if the deadly virus does spread to New Jersey, any of the 72 hospitals across the state are equipped to treat Ebola patients.

Kerry McKean Kelly, Vice President of the New Jersey Hospital Association told NJ.com that unlike the medical facilities in West Africa, New Jersey hospitals have isolation rooms to prevent the disease from spreading.

As there is no specialized treatment for Ebola, New Jersey hospitals are prepared to provide acute care in isolation rooms, to help patients fight the virus by providing fluids and monitoring electrolytes.

According to the Center for Disease Control, the 2014 Ebola outbreak in West Africa is the first Ebola outbreak to affect multiple countries in West Africa. It is also the largest Ebola epidemic in history - the first the world has ever known.

The deadly disease has a fatality rate of between 60 and 90 percent. The disease is spread through direct contact with bodily fluids from a symptomatic Ebola patient. Symptoms appear 2 to 21 days after the patient comes in contact with the virus. On average, symptoms appear 8 to 10 days after exposure.

According to the CDC, symptoms include a fever greater than 101.5 degrees, severe headaches, muscle pain, weakness, diarrhea, vomiting, stomach pain, and unexplained bleeding or bruising.

New Jersey doctors note that the virus does not spread by touching door knobs and it is sensitive to Clorox and does not survive for very long on surfaces.

“If you’re in public, wash your hands often,” Dr. Katharine Garnier, medical director of Stratford Family Medicine told NJ.com. “Hand hygiene is always the best way to prevent infection of any kind.”