The term "quarantine" goes back to the Bubonic Plague epidemic. How has it evolved since then?
+ READ ARTICLEA tense waiting game ended this week for family and several others who had come into contact with Thomas Eric Duncan, the first patient to be diagnosed in the U.S. with Ebola and who died of the virus on Oct. 9. All received a clean bill of health after being closely monitored for signs of infection and kept in isolation for three weeks.
But while many in Dallas breathed a sigh of relief, fears sparked anew in New Jersey when an airline passenger showing signs of fever arrived from Liberia, one of the countries hit hardest by the current outbreak, and was sent to a medical center in case he might have contracted Ebola. With more people facing the possibility of detainment as a precaution, it’s important to get all the facts on what it actually means to be quarantined.
Watch this brief history on how outbreaks have been handled since the plague days, as well as a primer on what kinds of rights you have while being held and monitored for symptoms.