Hannah Loesch
Staff Writer
U.S. Army personnel are being quarantined in their home base in Vicenza, Italy, after returning from the Ebola hot zone of Liberia.
The American troops cannot have physical contact with their families and friends, and medical staff are being so cautious in an attempt to keep the virus contained that their plastic forks are being burned after each use.
According to Maj. Gen. Darryl Williams, none of his team in “controlled monitoring” have shown any symptoms so far. As of October 28, the troops are on day three of the 21-day quarantine period.
But armed forces quarantined in Italy have high spirits and are proud of their work to fight the "silent enemy" of Ebola.
"The morale is high and very comfortable with the contribution we made," said Williams, commander of U.S. Army forces in Africa, who spoke to CNN via military video conference from within the isolation area.
Williams added that 75 more service members will return this week to quarantine on the base.
The military’s mobile Ebola-testing labs are top-priority in the Pentagon's effort to help the Ebola outbreak, according to Williams.
The decision to put the American soldiers returning from Liberia into quarantine in Italy rather than in the United States has been somewhat controversial in Italy.
According to Luca Zaia, the president of the region’s assembly, "They shouldn't have been sent here, they should do their quarantine for Ebola at home." He added that "it would have been more respectful [of the United States to have] thought about the risks posed to local citizens."
Currently, West Africa is the epicenter of the Ebola outbreak, which has killed nearly 5,000 people. The often lethal virus is spread through direct contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person displaying symptoms.
