Some neighbors ‘fearful,’ but nurse hopes for solution on quarantine

FORT KENT, Maine (AP) — A resident of the Maine town of Fort Kent says some people there are “fearful” because of the presence of Kaci Hickox.

But Priscilla Staples isn’t among them. She says Hickox “has done nothing wrong” and that she has “every right” to do what she did this morning — when she left her home with her boyfriend and went for an hour-long bike ride, with a state police cruiser following her.

State officials are going to court in hopes of making the nurse stay in her home for the rest of a 21-day incubation period for Ebola. She had been in Africa, treating Ebola patients.

As Hickox rode along a dirt path, she told reporters that she’s hoping for a compromise with health officials. But she’s making it clear she has no intention of remaining in isolation until the incubation period ends on November 10th.

After returning from Africa, Hickox was placed in a mandatory quarantine in New Jersey. She was released from a hospital and returned to Maine, where she’s under what Maine authorities call a voluntary quarantine.

States have broad authority under long-established law to quarantine people to prevent the spread of disease. But legal experts said there are differences here that could work in Hickox’s favor in court: People infected with Ebola are not contagious until they have symptoms, and the virus is not spread through casual contact.

%@AP Links

170-a-14-(Dr. Anthony Fauci (FOW’-chee), director, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, speaking at Washington Ideas Forum)-“of fear here”-NIH infectious diseases chief Dr. Anthony Fauci says the fear of Ebola in America stems from a misperception that fails to recognize differences between health care in the U.S. and in West Africa. (30 Oct 2014)

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152-a-09-(Sound of Kaci (KAY’-see) Hickox, nurse who recently returned to U.S. after treating Ebola patients in West Africa, telling reporters that she and her boyfriend are taking off for a bike ride)-“health department now”-Sound of Kaci (KAY’-see) Hickox, nurse who recently returned to U.S. after treating Ebola patients in West Africa, telling reporters that she and her boyfriend are taking off for a bike ride. (30 Oct 2014)

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APPHOTO MERB103: Nurse Kaci Hickox, right, and her boyfriend, Ted Wilbur are followed by a Maine State Trooper as they ride bikes on a trail near her home in Fort Kent, Maine, Thursday, Oct. 30, 2014. The couple went on an hour-long ride. State officials are going to court to keep Hickox in quarantine for the remainder of the 21-day incubation period for Ebola that ends on Nov. 10. Police are monitoring her, but can’t detain her without a court order signed by a judge. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty) (30 Oct 2014)

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APPHOTO MERB105: Nurse Kaci Hickox leaves her home on a rural road in Fort Kent, Maine, to take a bike ride with her boyfriend Ted Wilbur, Thursday, Oct. 30, 2014. The couple went on an hour-long ride followed by a Maine State Trooper. State officials are going to court to keep Hickox in quarantine for the remainder of the 21-day incubation period for Ebola that ends on Nov. 10. Police are monitoring her, but can’t detain her without a court order signed by a judge. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty) (30 Oct 2014)

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Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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