Ebola In NOLA? Health Officials Say Patient Is ‘Low Risk’

New Orleans is the latest city in the country going through an Ebola disease scare.

Tonight, it was reported that a man who recently visited an Ebola-infected country is being monitored for the disease in an unnamed hospital, according to officials with the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals. But, apparently, the man is “low risk.”

“He is located in the New Orleans Region,” Olivia Watkins with the DHH said. “The individual is at low risk for Ebola, but we are monitoring him in the same manner as the individual in the Capital Region with temperature and symptom checks, until the 21-day period is over out of an abundance of caution.”

Officials said the man is not showing signs of the disease, but for precaution purposes, he will continue to be monitored.

Meanwhile, on the national scale, though the Obama administration said a travel ban is unnecessary for making sure Ebola does not enter the country, a majority of Americans agree that a temporary travel ban is a smart move to combating the problem.

NPR and our partners at Truven Health Analytics asked more than 3,000 adults in a poll conducted online and by phone (mobile and landline) Oct. 1-15.

Nearly everyone — 97 percent — knew about the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, and a slim majority of those people, or 53 percent, believe the U.S. government has taken a leadership role in response.

About three-quarters of people aware of the Ebola outbreak say the U.S. should take steps such as banning travel to and from the affected part of Africa.

Still, there is no travel ban in sight.

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