Health Highlights: Jan. 5, 2015

Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by the editors of HealthDay:

Travelers From Mali No Longer Require Ebola Screening: U.S. Officials

Airline passengers from Mali will no longer have to undergo screening for Ebola symptoms when they arrive in the United States, and will no longer be required to enter the U.S. through one of five designated airports, federal officials say.

Homeland Security and the Centers for Disease Control said the rules will be lifted as of Tuesday because two 21-day incubation cycles have passed since the last Ebola patient in Mali had contact with someone not wearing protective gear, the Associated Press reported.

Also, there are no active Ebola cases in the West African country at the moment.

Travel restrictions and monitoring remain in effect for passengers arriving from Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, the AP reported.

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Health Worker Exposed to Ebola Being Monitored in Nebraska Hospital

A U.S. health care worker who was exposed to Ebola in Sierra Leone is under observation after arriving at the Nebraska Medical Center on Sunday afternoon.

The patient was flown to Omaha and then driven to the medical center by paramedics in full-body protective gear, the Associated Press reported.

The patient -- who has not tested positive for Ebola and is not ill or contagious -- will be monitored for signs of Ebola throughout the virus' 21-day incubation period, according to Dr. Phil Smith, head of the biocontainment unit at the medical center.

Doctors and nurses are wearing full protective equipment and taking the same precautions used when three patients with Ebola were treated at the medical center last fall, hospital spokesman Taylor Wilson told the AP.

About 8,000 people have died from the Ebola outbreak in West Africa that began about a year ago, according to the World Health Organization.


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