21-day quarantine period may not be enough for Ebola

A new study on Ebola outbreak has suggested that the currently used 21-day quarantine value could be reconsidered in order to sufficiently protect public health.

Charles Hass, professor in Drexel's College of Engineering, said that a systemic discussion must be done the twenty-one days that is regarded as the appropriate quarantine period for holding individuals potentially exposed to Ebola Virus for reduction risk of contagion.

Haas suggested that a broader look at the risk factors and costs and benefits should be considered when setting this standard and any scientific data of this nature has a standard deviation in results in %age by which they may vary.

In the case of Ebola's incubation period the range of results generated from the Zaire and Uganda data varied little and Ebola outbreaks, in Congo in 1995 and recent reports in West Africa, deviated between 0.1 and 12 %, according to Haas.

Hass also added that the potential tradeoff between costs and benefits as the quarantine time should be looked at again and extended to guide public health officials in determining the appropriate time.