10 American aid workers in Sierra Leone moved to U.S. after Ebola scare

BETHESDA, Md., March 15 (UPI) -- A group of 10 American aid workers were evacuated from Sierra Leone after possibly coming in contact with Ebola.

The aid workers, with the Partners in Health nonprofit charity, helped treat a medical worker infected with the virus, who has since been flown back to the United States. The aid workers are now being flown back to the U.S. via private jet. Each of the 10 were determined to have various risk factors, but none have symptoms.

Officials said the evacuation may be expanded if necessary.

"Ten clinicians who came to the aid of their ailing colleague were subsequently identified as contacts of the evacuated clinician," Partners in Health said in a statement on its website. "Out of an abundance of caution, and in collaboration with the U.S. Centers For Disease Control and Prevention, these clinicians are being transported to the United States via non-commercial aircraft."

The aid workers, who are likely doctors, nurses and other medical professionals, will be taken to the Nebraska Medical Center, Emory University in Atlanta and near the NIH. Each medical facility has specialized Ebola-treatment units.

"These people have been exposed to the virus but they aren't sick and aren't contagious," said Dr. Phil Smith,who directs the Nebraska Medical Center's bicontainment unit. "In the unlikely instance that one of them does develop symptoms, we would take them to the Biocontainment Unit immediately for evaluation and treatment."

While Ebola is not a widespread as it was months ago, it is still spreading in Sierra Leone and Guinea. More than 10,000 have been killed by the virus since the West Africa epidemic began last year. Some 24,000 have been infected. It is especially dangerous for health care workers who treat Ebola patients because it is spread through bodily fluids.