According to reports, days before he became the first person diagnosed with Ebola on American soil, Thomas Eric Duncan answered "no" to questions about whether he had cared for a patient with the deadly virus back in Liberia.
And now, the Liberian government says they "will seek to prosecute" if Duncan lied on his health screening questionnaire before leaving West Africa.
Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf told Canadian public broadcaster CBC on Thursday that she would consult with lawyers to decide what to do with Duncan when he returns home. Johnson Sirleaf told CBC:
"The fact that he knew (he was exposed to the virus) and he left the country is
unpardonable, quite frankly. I just hope that nobody else gets infected.
With the U.S. doing so much to help us fight Ebola, and again one of our compatriots didn't take due care, and so, he's gone there and put some Americans in a state of fear, and put them at some risk, and so I feel very saddened by that and very angry with him, to tell you the truth."
Before leaving Liberia, Duncan had answered no to a question about whether he had touched the body of someone who died in an area affected by the disease. CNN is also reporting that Duncan's family in the States said he hadn't mentioned any exposure to Ebola in Liberia. His girlfriend says he told her he hadn't been in contact with anyone with Ebola.
Wilfred Smallwood, Duncan's half-brother, told CNN on Thursday that he doesn't believe Duncan knew he had Ebola when he left Liberia for the United States. But he said it isn't out of the ordinary to come to the assistance of suffering people. Asked about whether Duncan had contact with Ebola patients, he said, "(it's) what we do in Liberia -- our tradition is to help somebody who needs help." Source
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