State health leaders criticize Maine CDC over Kaci Hickox quarantine
The group signs a letter siding with Hickox, saying the state's decision must be 'guided by science and not emotion.'
The Maine Medical Association and top infectious disease leaders in Maine have signed a letter criticizing the state’s quarantine policies after state leaders vowed to take Fort Kent nurse Kaci Hickox to court to impose an in-home quarantine. The letter was sent to the Press Herald Thursday morning.
Hickox, who cared for Ebola patients in Sierra Leone, has defied the state’s mandate that she stay home, going for a bike ride this morning with her boyfriend, Ted Wilbur.
Two recent Maine epidemiologists — Dr. Stephen Sears, who resigned his position in May, and Dr. Kathleen Gensheimer, who was the Maine epidemiologist for nearly 30 years before retiring in 2009 — joined numerous state health-care experts in opposition to the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention policies.
Maine currently does not have an epidemiologist, but the Maine CDC is interviewing candidates.
Dr. Lisa Ryan, president of the Maine Medical Association, told the Press Herald this morning that the Maine CDC’s attempts to impose the quarantine against Hickox’s led her and Dr. Lani Graham, a former state health officer, to write the letter and to round up top medical experts to join them, pointing out that the quarantine is not necessary and could become a disincentive for people to volunteer in countries stricken with infectious diseases.
“What we have is a knee-jerk, panic reaction without looking at the science,” Ryan said. “Quarantining someone for 21 days is not necessary” for health workers who do not have symptoms and test negative for the disease. The U.S. CDC calls for monitoring health workers, not quarantining them.
Hickox has tested negative for Ebola and does not have any symptoms, so she is not risking others by being out in society, Ryan said.
Maine CDC Director Dr. Sheila Pinette pointed out in a news conference on Tuesday that, even if someone tests negative as Hickox has done, they could still fall ill with Ebola within a 21-day incubation period after their last exposure to Ebola. Hickox would pass the 21 days by Nov. 10.
But Ryan said while it’s true someone could develop Ebola later, they are not contagious if they don’t have symptoms.
“Once you have a fever and become ill and develop symptoms, that’s when you could be putting someone at risk,” Ryan said. “Until that happens, there is no risk.”
The letter states, “Ultimately, we need to be guided by science and not emotion. An epidemic of fear can be as dangerous as an epidemic with a virus.”
