Mandatory quarantine imposed on NBC crew due to Ebola scare

After violating a 21-day isolation agreement, NBC chief medical correspondent Nancy Snyderman and her NBC crew are under a quarantine mandated by the New Jersey State Health Department until Oct. 22, according to Planet Princeton.

Snyderman and members of her crew were in contact with freelance cameraman Ashoka Mukpo, who was diagnosed with Ebola on Oct. 1.

As a result of the exposure, Snyderman and her team agreed to go under voluntary isolation 21 days out of an “abundance of caution,” according to aletterreleased by NBC News President Deborah Turness.

The voluntary agreement was made between the NBC crew, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the New Jersey State Health Department. At least one of the members of the crew violated that agreement, resulting in health officials turning it into a mandatory confinement.

Details of those who violated the agreement and how the state learned of the violation have not been released, although a state health department spokesperson told the Associated Press that Snyderman and her crew are still symptom-free and do not pose a significant risk to the community.

Planet Princeton reported last week that Snyderman, who is a resident of Princeton, was seen in public in Hopewell Borough. According to the eyewitness, Snyderman remained in a car while a man who accompanied her entered Peasant Grill to pick up take-out.

Although Snyderman’s team was reporting in Liberia during the outbreak, Snyderman reported being very vigilant and remaining at low risk of contracting the virus.

TheCDC reports that people exposed to Ebola develop symptoms two to 21 days after exposure.

Mukpo, the fifth American to battle Ebola, is now being treated in Omaha, Neb. Nebraska Medical Center’s isolation unit director told the Associated Press on Friday that Mukpo’s condition had slightly improved.