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MPH Alum Talbot: Travelers should be not quarantined because of Zika Virus

Posted by on Monday, February 8, 2016 in News .

There is no evidence that individuals who have acquired Zika abroad are causing transmission of the virus within the U.S., and isolating people with Zika symptoms in the U.S. would be impractical and unnecessary, according to a number of infectious disease experts contacted by Scientific American.

“I think with this being the first emerging infection post-Ebola, people are more anxious about this virus.  While it has been associated with some serious outcomes that must be addressed, the virus does not spread in a way that makes quarantine something that should be considered,” says Tom Talbot, chief epidemiologist at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.