After Ashoka Mukpo-the American cameraman who got infected with the Ebola virus while working with an NBC News crew covering events in West Africa-was evacuated back into the United States, he was immediately put in an isolation unit at the Nebraska Medical Center. The rest of his team, on the other hand, were directed to put themselves under self-quarantine for 21 days to make sure that they did not develop the signs and symptoms of the disease following exposure to Mukpo.
Now however, reports that surfaced that at least one of the members have broken that directive, prompting New Jersey health officials to impose mandatory confinement. The group includes NBC's chief medical correspondent, Dr. Nancy Snyderman, but it has not been disclosed which of the team members violated the self-isolation order.
A Rhode Island native, Mukpo tested positive for the Ebola virus on October 1, during which time he was in Liberia with the rest of the news team keeping track of events that were unfolding during the crisis. After his diagnosis, none of the other members of the crew were said to have shown any symptoms of the virus. Nevertheless, health officials instructed every one of them to avoid any contact with other people once they got back to New Jersey. NBC News President Deborah Turness said earlier that, "While they are deemed to be at low risk, we have agreed with state and local health authorities that our team will not come to work, they will stay at home taking their temperatures twice daily and staying in touch with the local health authorities."
However, a representative from the New Jersey Health Department said that someone from that team broke this deal with the CDC. In a statement, the Agency said, "Unfortunately, the NBC crew violated this agreement and so the Department of Health today issued a mandatory quarantine order to ensure that the crew will remain confined until October 22."