Screenings for Ebola to start at O'Hare today
Fever screenings are set to begin at O'Hare International Airport on today.
Dr. Julie Morita, chief medical officer of Chicago's Department of Public Health, emphasized that there are no confirmed cases of Ebola in the Chicago area, but she told ABC 7 Chicago her agency has been working closely with area hospitals to make sure they're ready in case that happens.
Morita said O'Hare will implement procedures today to screen all passengers arriving from West Africa for fever.
The screenings are part of government plans to begin taking the temperatures of travelers from West Africa arriving at five U.S. airports as part of a stepped-up response to the Ebola epidemic. The additional layer of screening is underway at or planned for New York's JFK International and the international airports in Newark, Washington Dulles and Atlanta, in addition to O'Hare.
If someone is suspected of being ill at O'Hare, Morita told ABC 7, that passenger would likely be taken to Presence Resurrection Medical Center in Chicago, which already has an arrangement with O'Hare to screen passengers for other contagious diseases.
If an Ebola diagnosis is made, Morita told ABC 7, that patient could be treated in isolation at any number of Chicago hospitals, but she said no facility has been designated as the place where a patient would be treated.
“We're fortunate we have an abundance of high-quality health care facilities that have trained experts, so we're having conversations with many health care facilities,” Morita told ABC 7.
Chicago's Department of Public Health is translating a fact sheet Ebola into several languages, ABC 7 reports. And the Illinois Department of Public Health said Wednesday it plans to set up a hotline by the end of the week to answer questions about the virus, The Associated Press reported.
Chicago's Department of Public Health is also training 911 dispatchers and first responders to ask about sick patients' travel history, ABC 7 said.