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Maine governor demands blood test from 'Ebola nurse'

He'll back off demand for voluntary house quarantine if Kaci Hickox provides a sample.

By Mary Papenfuss
A police car drives through the parking lot of University Hospital in Newark where nurse Kaci Hickox was held in a quarantine tent last week after returning from West Africa. Now she's under pressure from the governor of Maine to stay at home or take a blood test. UPI/John Angelillo
A police car drives through the parking lot of University Hospital in Newark where nurse Kaci Hickox was held in a quarantine tent last week after returning from West Africa. Now she's under pressure from the governor of Maine to stay at home or take a blood test. UPI/John Angelillo | License Photo

FORT KENT, Maine, Oct. 30 (UPI) -- Maine officials went to court in a bid to obtain an order requiring a blood test from the nurse at the center of a federal-state debate over Ebola protocols.

Asymptomatic Kaci Hickox, who last week blasted her forced quarantine in New Jersey after returning from working in Sierra Leone, defiantly took a bike ride with her boyfriend in Maine where she's vacationing. State troopers tailed the pair, but didn't stop them. Officials want Hickox to maintain a voluntary quarantine in the home where she's staying. But state governor Paul LePage said officials would drop the quarantine requirement if Hickox submits to a blood test.

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"She has been exposed and she's not cooperative, so force her to take a test. It's so simple," said LePage.

"I remain ready and willing to reasonably address the needs of healthcare workers meeting guidelines to assure the public health is protected," he added. But a statement issued by his office warned that Maine laws provide "robust authority ... to address threats to public health."

Hickox has said that a quarantine isn't necessary because she isn't sick and has already tested negative for the Ebola virus. She'll continue to test negative unless she develops symptoms, according to health experts.

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Hickox is planning her own court action against New Jersey, where she was ordered to stay in a quarantine tent at Newark hospital without a flush toilet or shower when she flew back from Africa. After pressure from the White House challenging the medical wisdom of such a restriction, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said she could spend the rest of her quarantine at home.

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