A freelance cameraman from Rhode
Island (USA) is now the second person
from New England to test positive for
the Ebola virus. He had been
working for NBC and covering the
Ebola outbreak in Liberia, but will
receive treatment in the United
States.
The cameraman, identified by NECN
as 33-year-old Ashoka Mukpo, joined
an NBC News crew on Tuesday to
work with the network’s medical
correspondent Dr. Nancy Snyderman.
Two days later, he was at a
treatment center showing some
symptoms of the disease and
ultimately tested positive, according
to the Associated Press .
The rest of the crew and Dr.
Snyderman are being flown back to
the United States as well. While they
have no symptoms of Ebola, the AP
reports they will be quarantined for
21 days as a precaution.

Initial reports, apparently based on
a Facebook profile for Mukpo,
indicated that the cameraman’s
hometown was Providence, R.I. This
was later confirmed by NBC.
The cameraman is the fifth American
to test positive for the virus and the
second person from New England.
The other local resident to receive
treatment for Ebola
was 51-year-old Dr. Rick Sacra of
Holden, Mass. Sacra said he may
have contracted the disease while
helping women deliver their babies
in Liberia. He received treatment in
Nebraska and has since recovered
and been released.
The Massachusetts Department of
Public Health emphasized in a press
conference Friday
afternoon that although several
suspicious cases have been
investigated, none has been so
serious as to have tests sent to the
Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention.
“There are no Ebola cases in
Massachusetts, and the possibility of
an Ebola case in the Commonwealth
remains very low,” said an advisory
from Mass. DPH on Friday.
“Massachusetts is well prepared to
handle an incidence of Ebola, in the
unlikely event that a case should
occur in the Commonwealth.”
Despite the fact that suspected
cases have yielded negative test
results for Ebola so far, the state’s
public health officials are continuing
to urge hospitals to be especially
vigilent and err on the side of
caution.

www.boston.com/health/2014/10/03/nbc-cameraman-from-tests-positive-for-ebola/5EUDjhtou21kFNJh807TwJ/story.html