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| Ebola outbreak: Nurse Kaci Hickox defies quarantine | Ebola outbreak: Nurse Kaci Hickox defies quarantine |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| A US nurse who returned from treating Ebola patients in Sierra Leone has defied a quarantine order, leaving her house in Maine for a brief bike ride. | A US nurse who returned from treating Ebola patients in Sierra Leone has defied a quarantine order, leaving her house in Maine for a brief bike ride. |
| Kaci Hickox maintains isolation is unnecessary, as she has no symptoms and has tested negative for Ebola. | Kaci Hickox maintains isolation is unnecessary, as she has no symptoms and has tested negative for Ebola. |
| Maine officials have vowed to go to court to try to enforce the quarantine. | Maine officials have vowed to go to court to try to enforce the quarantine. |
| Nearly 5,000 people have died of the disease in West Africa, but only nine patients have been treated for the virus on US soil. | Nearly 5,000 people have died of the disease in West Africa, but only nine patients have been treated for the virus on US soil. |
| More than 13,700 people have been sickened in total, the vast majority in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea. | |
| Ebola, which is only spread through close contact with the bodily fluids of a sick patient, has an incubation period of up to 21 days, during which patients neither show symptoms nor are infectious. | |
| US officials are at odds over whether American healthcare workers who return from treating Ebola patients in West Africa should be forced into quarantine until that period has expired. | US officials are at odds over whether American healthcare workers who return from treating Ebola patients in West Africa should be forced into quarantine until that period has expired. |
| Deaths from Ebola | Deaths from Ebola |
| New Jersey and other states put quarantine rules into place after a New York doctor who treated Ebola patients in West Africa came down with the disease. | |
| But the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), America's chief public health agency, merely recommends daily monitoring of returned health workers, rather than enforced isolation. | But the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), America's chief public health agency, merely recommends daily monitoring of returned health workers, rather than enforced isolation. |
| And President Barack Obama has warned that overly restrictive measures imposed upon returning healthcare workers could discourage them from volunteering in Africa. | And President Barack Obama has warned that overly restrictive measures imposed upon returning healthcare workers could discourage them from volunteering in Africa. |
| "We know that the best way to protect Americans from Ebola is to stop the outbreak at its source," he said on Wednesday. | "We know that the best way to protect Americans from Ebola is to stop the outbreak at its source," he said on Wednesday. |
| Ms Hickox returned to the US on Friday, landing at Newark International Airport. | Ms Hickox returned to the US on Friday, landing at Newark International Airport. |
| Officials say she had a minor fever, necessitating a quarantine at a Newark, New Jersey, hospital. | Officials say she had a minor fever, necessitating a quarantine at a Newark, New Jersey, hospital. |
| Ms Hickox contested the quarantine regimen, ultimately threatening legal action. | Ms Hickox contested the quarantine regimen, ultimately threatening legal action. |
| After showing no fever or other symptoms for a 24-hour period, she was discharged and brought to her home state of Maine. | After showing no fever or other symptoms for a 24-hour period, she was discharged and brought to her home state of Maine. |
| Ebola cases outside West Africa | Ebola cases outside West Africa |
| On Thursday morning, Ms Hickox left her home on a bicycle, followed by police officers who monitored her movements and public interactions. She returned home shortly after. | On Thursday morning, Ms Hickox left her home on a bicycle, followed by police officers who monitored her movements and public interactions. She returned home shortly after. |
| Without a court order, the police were barred from detaining her. | Without a court order, the police were barred from detaining her. |
| "I really hope that we can work things out amicably and continue to negotiate," she told the Associated Press news agency on Thursday morning. | |
| Maine Governor Paul LePage told ABC News that Maine officials have sought a judge's permission to order Ms Hickox to undergo a blood test for Ebola. | |
| "This could be resolved today," Mr LePage said. "She has been exposed and she's not co-operative, so force her to take a test. It's so simple." | "This could be resolved today," Mr LePage said. "She has been exposed and she's not co-operative, so force her to take a test. It's so simple." |
| Meanwhile, US Ambassador to the UN Samantha Power, who has recently returned from a trip to the Ebola-hit countries in West Africa, said the "lives of a whole generation in west Africa" depend on the world's ability to stop the outbreak. | |
| "Ebola thrives on fear," Ms Power said. She said it was well known what was needed to stop the outbreak but the world needed to "marshal the will" to do it. | |
| While "there are a few nations doing a lot to help, many are doing very little or nothing at all". | |
| In other developments: | In other developments: |