Ebola In The United States: What Happened When

Scenes from an outbreak: Ebola survivor Dr. Kent Brantly; Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas; A worker cleans the apartment where Ebola victim Thomas Eric Duncan stayed in Dallas; experimental vaccine; the Carnival Magic cruise ship off Cozumel, Mexico. Jessica McGowan/Getty; Mike Stone/Getty Images; Jim Young/Reuters/Landov; Steve Parsons/AP; Angel Castellanos/AP hide caption
Scenes from an outbreak: Ebola survivor Dr. Kent Brantly; Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas; A worker cleans the apartment where Ebola victim Thomas Eric Duncan stayed in Dallas; experimental vaccine; the Carnival Magic cruise ship off Cozumel, Mexico.
Jessica McGowan/Getty; Mike Stone/Getty Images; Jim Young/Reuters/Landov; Steve Parsons/AP; Angel Castellanos/APWhen Ebola virus resurfaced in West Africa in December 2013, public health officials were hopeful that it could be contained, as it had been in past outbreaks.
But the virus continues to ravage communities in Africa and has now spread to the United States and Europe. The number of new cases in Africa make it likely that there will continue to be cases in the United States.
We've put together a timeline to track the U.S. response to Ebola, with the most recent events at the top. (International coverage by NPR continues at the Goats and Soda blog.) Check back, as we're regularly updating this list.
The Timeline Of Ebola In The U.S.
11/17/2014: SURGEON FROM SIERRA LEONE DIES IN NEBRASKA
Dr. Martin Salia, 44, dies at Nebraska Medical Center after being evacuated Nov. 15 from Sierra Leone. It's not clear where he became infected with Ebola, since he wasn't working in an Ebola treatment unit. Salia is the second person to die of Ebola in the United States, after Thomas Eric Duncan.
11/11/2014: NEW YORK DOCTOR RELEASED FROM HOSPITAL
Spencer Platt/Getty ImagesCraig Spencer, the first person in New York City to test positive for Ebola, is released from Bellevue Hospital Center (and gets a huge from Mayor Bill de Blasio.) Spencer, 33, treated Ebola patients in Guinea with Doctors Without Borders and was diagnosed with Ebola on Oct. 23.
11/6/2014: TEXAS CALLS AN END TO MONITORING
Joe Raedle/Getty ImagesTexas stops monitoring people connected with the state's three Ebola cases, saying they are past the 21-day incubation period. "We're happy to reach this milestone, but our guard stays up," Dr. David Lakey, the state's health commissioner, says. The state also clears people who flew from Dallas to Cleveland with Ebola patient Amber Vinson.
11/6/2014: PRESIDENT OBAMA SEEKS $6.2 BILLION FOR EBOLA RESPONSE
Shawn Thew/EPA/LandovPresident Obama asks Congress for $6.2 billion in emergency funds to help stop the Ebola outbreaks in West Africa and bolster screening and prevention efforts in the U.S. The money would go to the U.S. Agency for International Development, the Department of Health and Human Services and other federal agencies.
11/5/2014: NYC PATIENT IS EXERCISING, PLAYING BANJO
Andrew Burton/Getty ImagesDr. Craig Spencer is well enough to pass the time in the isolation unit at Bellevue Hospital by playing the banjo and riding a stationary bike, according to the New York Daily News. Spencer, 33, contracted Ebola while working with Doctors Without Borders in Guinea and tested positive on Oct. 23.
10/31/2014 MAINE JUDGE FREES NURSE FROM HOME QUARANTINE
Spencer Platt/Getty ImagesThe judge overturns an earlier temporary order aimed at keeping nurse Kaci Hickox quarantined at home for 21 days after returning from treating Ebola patients in West Africa. Hickox, who had defied the home quarantine, will self-monitor and coordinate her travels with state officials.
10/30/14 NEW ORLEANS BANS EBOLA RESEARCHERS
If you're an infectious disease researcher, the annual American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene meeting is the place to be. But not this year. Louisiana decreed that researchers who had been in West African countries in the past three weeks "should NOT travel to New Orleans to attend the conference." Prospective attendees were told they'd be quarantined in a hotel for 21 days if they showed up, even if they'd had nothing to do with Ebola.
10/28/2014: SECOND DALLAS NURSE RECOVERS
Erik S. Lesser/EPA/LandovEmory University Hospital in Atlanta releases Amber Vinson, 29, declaring her Ebola-free. She became infected while caring for Thomas Eric Duncan at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas, and was diagnosed with Ebola on Oct. 15.
10/26/2014: NURSE RELEASED FROM 'INHUMANE' QUARANTINE
New Jersey officials release Kaci Hickox, a nurse who returned to the U.S. after treating Ebola patients in Sierra Leone, from quarantine in a tent outside Newark's University Hospital. Hickox, who called the quarantine "inhumane," hired a civil rights attorney to represent her. She will go home to Maine and serve out the quarantine there.
10/24/2014: STATES IMPOSE MANDATORY QUARANTINES
Mark Lennihan/APNew York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announces that his state will impose a mandatory 21-day quarantine on people arriving in the U.S. who have had direct contact with Ebola-infected individuals. New Jersey and Illinois announce their own quarantines. All affect people with no symptoms of infection.
10/24/14 OBAMA CONGRATULATES NINA PHAM
Olivier Douliery/Getty ImagesNurse Nina Pham goes to the White House, where she is greeted by President Obama. She says she's looking forward to going home to Dallas and her dog Bentley. "I feel fortunate and blessed to be standing here today."
10/24/14: FIRST DALLAS NURSE DECLARED EBOLA-FREE
Pablo Martinez Monsivais/APNina Pham is hugged by Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, as she leaves the NIH hospital in Bethesda. Pham was diagnosed with Ebola on Oct. 12. The other Dallas nurse, Amber Vinson, is still being treated at Emory University Hospital, but physicians there say there is no longer Ebola in her blood.
10/23/14: DOCTOR IN NEW YORK TESTS POSITIVE FOR EBOLA
Mark Lennihan/APA physician with Doctors Without Borders, identified as Craig Spencer, tests positive for Ebola in New York City. He had recently returned from working with Ebola patients in Guinea. He is being treated in the isolation unit at Bellevue Hospital. His fiancee and two friends have been quarantined.
10/22/2014: NBC PHOTOJOURNALIST RELEASED FROM HOSPITAL
Sait Serkan Gurbuz/Reuters/LandovAshoka Mukpo, a photojournalist who worked for NBC News, is released from the Nebraska Medical Center after being declared Ebola free. The 33-year-old contracted the virus while working in Liberia and was admitted to the hospital on Oct. 6. Mukpo is the latest patient to be released, following an anonymous aid worker who was infected in Africa and discharged on Oct. 19 from Emory University Hospital. Two nurses who were infected while treating Thomas Eric Duncan in Dallas remain hospitalized: Nina Pham at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md., and Amber Vinson at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta.
10/20/14: QUARANTINE ENDS FOR DUNCAN'S FIANCEE
Richard Drew/APThe Ebola quarantine mandated for Louise Troh, the fiancee of Thomas Eric Duncan, her son and two nephews ends after 21 days. And CDC changes its guidelines for protective personal equipment to include covering all skin and using a "buddy system" when putting on or removing gear.
10/19/2014: EBOLA PANIC STOPS CRUISE, SCHOOLS
Angel Castellanos/APThe Caribbean cruise ship, Carnival Magic, returns to Galveston, Texas after being refused permission to dock in Cozumel, Mexico because it was carrying an employee of Texas Presbyterian hospital. The worker tested negative for Ebola on the ship's return. Earlier, classes were cancelled at schools in Texas and Ohio because staffers, students or parents had traveled on the same airplane as a nurse later diagnosed with Ebola.
10/17/2014: WHITE HOUSE NAMES EBOLA CZAR
Andrew H. Walker/Getty ImagesRon Klain, a former chief of staff for Vice Presidents Gore and Biden, is tapped to be the Obama administration's Ebola czar, coordinating the government's response to the virus. Klain, a lawyer, will report to Homeland Security Advisor Lisa Monaco and National Security Advisor Susan Rice.
10/16/2014: NIH TAKES OVER CARE OF NURSE #1
Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA/LANDOVNina Pham, the first Dallas nurse to become infected with Ebola, is being moved to the National Institutes of Health hospital in Bethesda, Md., this evening, Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, tells a congressional hearing. New tests of experimental vaccines and medications will be underway soon, he added.
10/15/2014: SECOND DALLAS NURSE DIAGNOSED WITH EBOLA
Kevin C. Cox/Getty ImagesAmber Joy Vinson, a 29-year-old nurse who worked at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas, is diagnosed with Ebola, the CDC reports. She reported having a fever the day before, when she flew back from Cleveland on a commercial flight. She helped care for Thomas Eric Duncan, who died of Ebola at the hospital on Oct. 8. Vinson is evacuated to Emory University Hospital, left, late on Oct. 15.
10/13/2014: NBC CORRESPONDENT DR. NANCY SNYDERMAN BREAKS QUARANTINE
Peter Kramer/NBC/NBC NewsWire via Getty ImagesNBC's medical correspondent Dr. Nancy Snyderman apologizes for breaking quarantine by going out for takeout food in New Jersey. She had worked with videographer Ashoka Mukpo, who was infected with Ebola in Liberia. Snyderman is shown at right during an earlier appearance on the Today show.
10/12/2014: DALLAS NURSE DIAGNOSED WITH EBOLA
Nina Pham, a 26-year-old nurse who helped treat Ebola patient Thomas Eric Duncan, becomes the first person infected with Ebola in the United States.
10/11/2014: AIRPORTS BEGIN SCREENING PASSENGERS FOR EBOLA
Eduardo Munoz/Reuters/LandovEbola screenings begin at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport for passengers from Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea. Washington Dulles International Airport, Newark Liberty International Airport, Chicago O'Hare International Airport and Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport will follow. Most passengers arriving from West Africa come through these airports.
10/8/2014: DALLAS PATIENT DIES
Wilmot Chayee/APThomas Eric Duncan dies of Ebola at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas at age 42. He had traveled from Liberia to visit relatives.
10/2/2014: AMERICAN JOURNALIST IN LIBERIA TESTS POSITIVE FOR EBOLA
Dave Weaver/APAshoka Mukpo, a freelance photojournalist working for NBC News in Liberia, tests positive for Ebola. He is returned to the United States and is taken to Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha, left, for treatment.
10/1/2014: RELATIVES OF DALLAS PATIENT ARE PLACED UNDER QUARANTINE
Tom Pennington/Getty ImagesTexas authorities place relatives of Ebola patient Thomas Eric Duncan under quarantine in their apartment, left. They're later moved to a private house and the apartment is decontaminated.
9/30/2014: FIRST U.S. EBOLA CASE IS CONFIRMED IN DALLAS, TEXAS
Mike Stone/Getty ImagesOfficials at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas say Thomas Eric Duncan has been diagnosed with Ebola. Duncan arrived in Dallas from Liberia on Sept. 20, and had gone to the hospital on Sept. 26 with a fever and stomach pain but was sent home. He returned to the hospital much sicker on Sept. 28 and was admitted.
9/16/2014: PRESIDENT OBAMA OFFERS 3,000 TROOPS IN FIGHT AGAINST EBOLA
Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty ImagesPresident Obama outlines an increased response to fight Ebola, including building a military command center in Liberia and sending 3,000 U.S. troops to the region.
9/4/2014: SCIENTISTS PREDICT THAT EBOLA WILL COME TO THE U.S.
An analysis of international air travel shows that it's likely that someone infected with Ebola will board a commercial flight to the U.S. in the next few months.
9/2/2014: THIRD AMERICAN WORKER TESTS POSITIVE FOR EBOLA
Courtesy of SIMDr. Rick Sacra, a Massachusetts doctor working in Liberia for the Christian aid group SIM, tests positive for Ebola. He later recovers at a hospital in Nebraska, receiving transfusions of blood plasma from fellow survivor Dr. Kent Brantly.
SEPTEMBER 2014: EXPERIMENTAL EBOLA VACCINE TESTED ON HUMANS
Steve Parsons/APDrug company GlaxoSmithKline and the National Institutes of Health begin testing an Ebola vaccine on humans. The initial test involves 20 healthy volunteers.
8/21/2014: EBOLA PATIENTS ARE RELEASED FROM HOSPITAL
Jessica McGowan/Getty ImagesDr. Kent Brantly, left with his wife, Amber, is released from Emory University Hospital after recovering from Ebola. Nancy Writebol, who also became infected while working in Africa, is released, too. Both were treated with the experimental monoclonal antibody drug ZMapp.
8/7/2014: FDA OKS EXPERIMENTAL DRUG FOR USE AGAINST EBOLA
Ben Nelms/Reuters/LandovThe U.S. Food and Drug Administration allows use of an experimental drug, TKM-Ebola, in Ebola patients even though it hasn't gone through clinical trials.
8/5/2014: EBOLA SCARE AT NEW YORK HOSPITAL
Stan Honda/AFP/Getty ImagesNew York's Mount Sinai Hospital, left, makes the news after screening a patient for Ebola. It turns out to be a false alarm.
8/5/2014: SECOND EBOLA PATIENT ARRIVES IN THE U.S.
APNancy Writebol, who contracted Ebola while volunteering for the missionary group SIM in Liberia, is evacuated to Emory University Hospital for treatment.
8/2/2014: FIRST EBOLA PATIENT ARRIVES IN THE U.S.
APDr. Kent Brantly, shown treating Ebola patients in Liberia at left, arrives at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta for treatment on Aug. 2. Brantly was diagnosed with Ebola on July 26. He was working for the missionary group Samaritan's Purse.
3/31/2014: CDC SENDS A TEAM TO GUINEA
Jessica McGowan/Getty ImagesThe CDC sends five people to Guinea to assist the Ministry of Health in dealing with the Ebola outbreak there. Other Americans are in West Africa working for nonprofit groups like Doctors Without Borders and Samaritan's Purse.
1994: RICHARD PRESTON WRITES 'THE HOT ZONE'
Random HouseRichard Preston's riveting account of the 1989 Reston, Va., Ebola outbreak in laboratory monkeys introduces Ebola to popular American culture.
1989: EBOLA ARRIVES IN THE UNITED STATES
Researchers from the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases are shocked to discover that a strain of Ebola virus was killing laboratory monkeys at a quarantine facility in Reston, Va., just outside Washington, D.C. The outbreak ended when the monkeys were euthanized. No humans fell ill, though several tested positive for the virus.