The U.S. city of Dallas on Friday marked the end of an Ebola outbreak that claimed a life and infected two nurses as the last people being monitored for signs of the deadly virus were to be cleared at midnight.
Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings said in a statement released Friday that he was looking forward to Dallas being "Ebola-free" after the last of the 171 people being monitored for the virus reach the 21-day mark Friday midnight, the longest incubation period for the disease.
"I'm relieved and thankful that we have come to the end of the monitoring period for all contacts and potential contacts for Ebola," Rawlings said. "I'm proud of the way in which the city of Dallas was able to contain the virus."
Former U.S. President George W. Bush dropped by Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital on Friday to recognize the end of Dallas' Ebola outbreak.
Bush thanked the hospital staff for their efforts in fighting the disease and met one of the infected nurses, Amber Vinson. He kissed and hugged the nurse and said he was glad to see her back to work.
Vinson and another nurse Nina Pham contracted the virus when caring for the first person diagnosed with Ebola on the U.S. soil, Thomas Eric Duncan. Duncan died on Oct. 8. And a few days later the two nurses tested positive for the virus. Both were moved to hospitals out of Texas and were later cured and discharged.
A total of 171 people were put under quarantine after the Ebola outbreak. They either had contact with Duncan or the two nurses, directly or indirectly. And no one among them has shown any signs.
Texas officials said about 50 people who returned to the state from West African countries where the virus has killed thousands will remain under monitoring.
The Ebola crisis has exposed loopholes in both the Dallas hospital and federal agencies overseeing infectious disease prevention. The hospital failed to detect Duncan's case the first time the Liberian man sought help there and was obviously ill prepared when an Ebola patient was brought in.
Nurses also told the media Duncan was initially left at the emergency room for hours without care and even shared a room with other patients. Medical staffers who treated him wore protective gears but left their necks uncovered. Contaminated waste was piled to the ceiling without timely disposal and treatment.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has also come under fire for not providing up-to-date safety protocols and mishandling the crisis during its early stages.