Parents Fearing Ebola Pull Kids from School

Dallas parents are pulling their children from school amid fears of exposure to Ebola after five children are believed to have been in contact with the Liberian man who was the first person to be diagnosed in the United States last week.

The five students who live together and attend four different schools in Dallas have not presented any symptoms after encountering Thomas Eric Duncan, but health officials and extra staff have been dispatched to the schools as a precautionary measure, according to the Dallas Morning News.

One parent withdrew her first-grader after hearing about one of the students who attended her son's school.

"I don't think I'm going to bring him until we go to the doctor and check him and see if he's OK," she told the Dallas News.

Another parent who pulled two of her children from school said that while she understood Ebola is not spread by casual contact, children may be more likely than adults to spread the disease.

"They are kids," she told the Dallas News. "They are touching each other and sneezing on each other. That's scary. That's really scary."

Meanwhile, a number of schools in the Dallas area have dismissed classes.

"Well, they just told us that we need to come and pick up the kids from the school," one parent told USA Today.

A high school student whose classes were cancelled told the Dallas News, "Nobody is touching each other. Nobody is shaking hands. Everyone is saying, 'Get away from me; Ebola is going around the school.'"

The five students are currently at home being monitored but had been attending classes until Wednesday morning, according to USA Today.

Local health officials are insisting that no other children are at risk of developing the deadly disease, and are urging parents to keep their children at school, The Hill reported.


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• NY Times: US Ebola Victim Had Helped Pregnant Woman With Virus
• Dallas Ebola Patient Vomited Outside Apartment on Way to Hospital