From Guinea to Dallas: Tracing the Ebola threat (Great Narrative)
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Around May 10, a woman famous for her traditional healing powers was buried in Koindu, a Sierra Leone diamond-mining town near the border with Guinea. As Ebola spread across the frontier, desperate patients had sought her help, and she, too, became infected.
The funeral drew mourners from near and far. At least 14 women were infected among the healer's following, said Stephen Gire, a research scientist at Harvard University who studies the evolution of viruses.
The women probably handled the body, which tradition holds must be washed before burial. But many others would have placed their hands on the body. Health authorities believe as many as 365 Ebola deaths can be traced back to that one funeral.
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If relatives of Marthalene Williams hadn't insisted that she had malaria, their Paynesville neighbor, Thomas Eric Duncan, might not have helped carry her to a taxi or accompanied them as they searched the capital for a hospital or clinic that would take her.
Four days later, on the afternoon of Sept. 19, Duncan arrived at Monrovia's airport to catch a flight to the United States, beginning with a connecting flight to Brussels. Like all travelers exiting the Ebola zone, Duncan's temperature was checked by a Liberian official who had been trained by CDC experts. Duncan's temperature was an unremarkable 97.3. He filled out a form crafted by the CDC and Liberian authorities to alert them to potential Ebola cases. It asks travelers whether they have had contact with people who might have Ebola.
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On Sept. 25, Jallah's mother took him to Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital, where they informed the medical staff that he had been to Liberia, Jallah said.
The hospital acknowledges that information about his time in Africa was recorded, but said his symptoms, including a fever and abdominal pain, weren't specific to Ebola. He was sent home with antibiotics.
Three days later, Jallah went over to take care of Duncan while her mother was at work. She fixed him tea and crackers, but when she asked him to come eat in the living room, she said, "He told me he was cold and I should take the tea to his room."
Worried, she drove to a nearby Wal-Mart and bought him a brown comforter, which he crawled under while still wearing two shirts, shorts and socks. She thought at first that he might have malaria, or some other tropical disease, but not Ebola.
Then she took his temperature — 100.4 — and noticed that he was using the bathroom frequently. Most troubling of all, she had seen redness in his eyes that alarmed her. "I told him it was not right."
http://www.latimes.com/world/africa/la-fg-ebola-tic-toc-20141005-story.html#page=3
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