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NEW LONDON, N.H. (AP) — New Hampshire's deputy state epidemiologist is back from Sierra Leone, where she spent five weeks training medical workers how to avoid the Ebola virus.
The death toll from Ebola is now approaching 7,000, mostly in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea. Dr. Elizabeth Talbot told WMUR-TV (http://bit.ly/1wCFHub) that she will never forget the children she saw at the Sierra Leone treatment center who lost their parents and families and were surrounded by death and misery.
"There's a lot of misunderstanding," she said. "It's commonly said the Ebola treatment center is a place where you go to die."
In addition to her state position, Talbot is an infectious-disease doctor at Dartmouth-Hitchcock and an associate professor of medicine at Dartmouth's Geisel School of Medicine. She is maintaining a voluntary quarantine at her home in New London. She says she and her family are grateful for the support they've received from their community.
Ebola is spread through direct contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person, and infected people aren't contagious unless they are sick.
"I'm restricting my movements, to a certain extent, because I know that some people are concerned without all the information that's needed to not be concerned," Talbot said.
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Information from: WMUR-TV, http://wmur.com
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