US Health Agency Advises Colleges to Tighten Ebola Precautions on Campuses

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has advised American colleges and universities, and any students or staff arriving from nations hit by the Ebola virus, to take precautions against spreading the disease that go beyond what most schools have done.

In interviews last week, some large universities said they had not adopted any anti-Ebola measures, noting that the C.D.C. had not yet offered them any guidance on the matter. Other colleges said they were asking anyone known to have recently been in the affected countries about possible exposure and potential symptoms, like fever, diarrhea, severe head or body aches, or unexplained bruising or bleeding.

In a new advisory issued over the weekend, the agency recommended that colleges conduct that kind of screening for anyone who had been in Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria or Sierra Leone in the past 21 days, the maximum incubation period for the virus before symptoms appear.

In addition, it advised measures that few colleges and universities have adopted, like having people returning from those countries take their temperature twice daily until the 21-day period has passed, even if they have no symptoms and no risk of exposure under guidelines the C.D.C. has developed. It instructs colleges, 'If a student, faculty or staff member has had a high- or low-risk exposure, state or local public health authorities should be notified, and school officials should consult with public health authorities for guidance about how that person should be monitored.'

Graphic: What You Need to Know About the Ebola Outbreak

The C.D.C. says that anyone who was recently in the outbreak region and develops a fever of 101.5 degrees or higher, or has other possible signs of the disease, should seek immediate medical care and warn a hospital or doctor's office in advance of their arrival. It advises steps to minimize proximity to others, like not taking public transportation.

At this time of year, thousands of foreign students and workers, and Americans who have been traveling abroad, arrive on campuses to start a new school year, stirring fears of Ebola reaching the United States.

Campus health officials have played down the risk, noting that the numbers from the affected countries are small. Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, where the outbreak is most severe, send fewer than 400 students each year to American colleges and universities. Nigeria sends more than 7,000, but it has had far fewer Ebola cases.

Administrators can easily identify students from those nations. Identifying others who have traveled to those countries is harder, and colleges say they have little choice but to rely on people stepping forward voluntarily.

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