Ebola Precautions
In view of the Ebola hemorrhagic fever outbreak in West Africa, Stony Brook University is implementing precautions to address concerns of the campus community as they pertain to the university’s international students who have traveled from the affected areas. The Stony Brook Student Health Service is relying on public health resources to provide information and links to the most up-to-date and accurate information available.
The university is reaching out to members of the student body with known ties to countries affected by the Ebola hemorrhagic fever outbreak.
The risk of being exposed anywhere in the U.S. is very low.
Because of the outbreak in West Africa the CDC has issued a travel warning against any nonessential travel to the affected areas.
Transmission:
Ebola is not a food, water, or air-borne illness. The virus is transmitted through:
- direct contact with the blood or bodily fluids of an infected symptomatic person; for the virus to be transmitted, an individual would have to have direct contact with an individual who is experiencing symptoms
- exposure to needles, medical equipment, or other objects that have been contaminated with infected secretions
- exposure to infected animals (through blood, fluids, or meat)
There are no medications effective in curing the virus, but supportive hospital care can significantly increase survival. Ebola is not transmitted through the air and is not a food-borne or water-borne contagion. Ebola is not contagious until its victims begin to show symptoms, such as a high fever. It is then highly contagious through infected bodily fluids and blood, even after the victim has died.
Students who traveled from the affected areas of Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Liberia, who have not had direct contact with the body fluids of symptomatic infected persons or animals, or objects that have been contaminated with body fluids, ie., syringes, should monitor their health for symptoms of infection over the next 21 days.
Any student with a potential exposure by direct contact with the body fluids of symptomatic infected persons or animals, or objects that have been contaminated should contact the Student Health Service, (631) 632-6740, and monitor their health for symptoms of infection over the next 21 days. Faculty or staff with a potential exposure should contact their health provider.
Anyone traveling to the above-named regions who become ill during their travel or during the 21 days subsequent to their travel — even if only a fever — should phone their health-care provider or the emergency room immediately and inform them about recent travel, potential contacts and symptoms.
More information is available at: