NEW YORK -- The nurse who has been quarantined at a New Jersey hospital because she had contact with Ebola patients in West Africa is criticizing the way her case has been handled, raising concerns from humanitarian and human rights groups over unclear policies for the newly launched program.
"This is not a situation I would wish on anyone, and I am scared for those who will follow me," Kaci Hickox wrote in a first-person account for the Dallas Morning News that was posted on the paper's website Saturday.
Hickox was the first traveler quarantined under Ebola watches in New Jersey and New York. Her preliminary tests for Ebola came back negative.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie on Friday imposed a mandatory quarantine of 21 days, the incubation period of the deadly virus, on travelers who have had contact with Ebola patients in the countries ravaged by Ebola: Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone. A similar measure was announced in Illinois, where officials say such travelers could be quarantined at home.
Infectious disease experts said the enforcement logistics are unclear. Health officials in the three states did not return messages from The Associated Press seeking details.
Cuomo on Saturday acknowledged that the policy might be hard to enforce, according to the New York Daily News. The governor said officials had never considered whether people refusing to go along with the order could face prosecution or arrest, adding, "It's nothing that we've discussed, no," the newspaper reported.
The quarantine measures were announced after a New York physician, Craig Spencer, who had been working for Doctors Without Borders in Guinea was admitted to Manhattan's Bellevue Hospital Center to be treated for Ebola.
In her essay, Hickox described being stopped at Newark Liberty International and questioned for several hours Friday. She said none of the people who questioned her would explain what was going on or what would happen to her.
Hickox is a nurse who had been working with Doctors Without Borders in Sierra Leone. Officials said she was taken to a hospital after developing a fever, but Hickox said she was merely flushed because she was upset by the process.
"Eight police cars escorted me to the University Hospital in Newark. Sirens blared, lights flashed. Again, I wondered what I had done wrong," she wrote.
Doctors Without Borders executive director Sophie Delaunay on Saturday criticized the "notable lack of clarity" from state officials about the quarantine policies, and an American Civil Liberties Union official said the state must provide more information on how it determined that mandatory quarantines were necessary.
"Coercive measures like mandatory quarantine of people exhibiting no symptoms of Ebola and when not medically necessary raise serious constitutional concerns about the state abusing its powers," said Udi Ofer, executive director of the ACLU of New Jersey.
Doctors Without Borders said Hickox has not been issued an order of quarantine specifying how long she must be isolated and is being kept in an unheated tent. It urged the "fair and reasonable treatment" of health workers fighting the Ebola outbreak.
Christie said he sympathizes for Hickox but said he has to do what he can to ensure public health safety.
He said state and local health officials would make sure quarantine rules are enforced and that New Jersey State Police will not be involved.
Newark University Hospital would not say if Hickox would be released for the balance of the quarantine period or remain in the hospital.
In the very early stages of Ebola, patients may still test negative because the virus has not yet reached detectable levels in the blood. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says it may take up to three days after the onset of symptoms for the virus to reach detectable levels in some patients, prompting repeat testing in some cases.
Hickox's mother, Karen Hickox, said Saturday her daughter probably wasn't expecting to be quarantined upon her return to the United States but is dealing with it.
"She was more frustrated (Friday) but there were some tears (Saturday)," she said. "If you knew her, she's a very compassionate person but she doesn't usually get emotional."
Dr. Irwin Redlener, a Columbia University professor and director of the New York-based National Center for Disaster Preparedness, warned that quarantines might discourage doctors and nurses from going to West Africa to help. The issue also has been raised by aid groups and Dr. Rick Sacra, one of the American health care workers successfully treated for Ebola contracted while he worked in Liberia.
"Until Ebola is under control in Africa, we're never going to see the end of such cases coming to the United States," Redlener said. (AP)