New Jersey enforces isolation order for NBC crew

GEOFF MULVIHILL
Associated Press

New Jersey officials have issued a mandatory quarantine order for members of an NBC crew that was exposed to a cameraman with Ebola.

The order went into effect Friday night after state health officials said a voluntary 21-day isolation agreement was violated.

Officials with the state Health Department told The Associated Press that the crew remains symptom-free and there is no reason for concern of exposure to the deadly virus to the community.

Citing privacy concerns, department officials wouldn’t give further details, including who violated the voluntary agreement and how the state learned of the violation.

The NBC crew included medical correspondent Nancy Snyderman, who lives in New Jersey. She was working with Ashoka Mukpo, a cameraman who was infected in West Africa. He is being treated in Nebraska.

An NBC representative told The AP on Saturday that the network could not comment on any individual case, but noted that the team was deemed to be low-risk upon its return from Liberia and its members agreed to follow guidelines set by local health authorities.

“We fully support those guidelines and continue to expect that they be followed,” the representative said. “Our team are all well with normal temperatures, which they check multiple times a day, and they are also in daily contact with local health officials.”

In a phone interview with “Today” last week, Snyderman said all the gear she and her crew used was being disinfected because they all shared work space and vehicles. She said she believed she and her team were at a low risk because they have been “hyper-vigilant.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that people exposed to the virus develop symptoms two to 21 days after their exposure.

Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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