As of Oct. 20, no suspected or confirmed cases of Ebola in the U.S., officials say

As of Oct. 20, no suspected or confirmed cases of Ebola in the U.S., officials say

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(Reuters) - The Chicago Public Health Department (CPHD) told Reuters that as of Oct. 20 “no suspected, probable, or confirmed cases of Ebola” had been reported in Chicago, contrary to claims online.

Bert Kelly, a spokesperson for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, also told Reuters that “there are no suspected Ebola cases in the U.S.” as of Oct. 20.

Allegations about possible cases in Chicago from Uganda flights gained traction after the Biden administration started applying Ebola screenings for recent visitors from Uganda arriving to Chicago O’Hare and other four airports in the U.S. (here).

Health authorities in Uganda confirmed an outbreak of the Sudan strain of Ebola on Sept. 20 (here).

A tweet dated Oct. 15 claimed two people “were put into isolation in Chicago under investigation from Uganda flights” on Oct. 3rd and Oct. 13th. (here

Some reactions to the post appeared to interpret the tweet as meaning Ebola cases had already been confirmed in Chicago (bit.ly/3eIBnZ0 ) (bit.ly/3s9Rr9p ) (here).

In a subsequent tweet, the user said that the “two PUI [Person Under Investigation here ]” were at the Rush Hospital Medical Center. (here ).

The user did not immediately respond to a Reuters Twitter message asking for comment.

Charles Jolie, Senior Media Relations at Rush University Medical Center, one of the CDC designated Ebola Treatment Centers in the country (here) (here), told Reuters that “no suspected Ebola patients” were evaluated throughout October, as of Oct. 20.

“There are no patients either under investigation for, nor confirmed with, Ebola at Rush University Medical Center,” he wrote via email.

VERDICT

False. The Chicago Public Health Department told Reuters no “suspected, probable, or confirmed cases of Ebola” had been reported in Chicago as of Oct. 20. The U.S. CDC similarly said no suspected Ebola cases in the U.S. had been reported as of that date.