21 day 'ordeal': US Ebola nurse to sue after being quarantined for 21 days

Kaci Hickox, an American nurse who treated Ebola patients in Sierra Leone, is suing for being forced into quarantine, despite testing negative.

18:09 27 October 2014

Kaci Hickox, is set to sue after claiming that her constitutional rights were violated after she was forced into quarantine despite testing negative for Ebola.

On Friday, the Doctors Without Borders worker, returned to the US where she was promptly put into isolation at a New Jersey hospital. Although tests confirmed that she doesn’t have Ebola, she was told to stay in the hospital for 21 days – when the disease’s incubation period ends.

Writing in The Dallas Morning News prior to the lawsuit’s announcement, Ms Hickox said: "This is not a situation I would wish on anyone, and I am scared for those who will follow me.

"I am scared that, like me, they will arrive and see a frenzy of disorganisation, fear and, most frightening, quarantine."

"I... thought of many colleagues who will return home to America and face the same ordeal. Will they be made to feel like criminals and prisoners?" Ms Hickox said.

"The US must treat returning health care workers with dignity and humanity," said the nurse, who has a bed, a portable toilet and a sink, but no shower.

So far, just New York, New Jersey and Illinois are the only states to introduce a mandatory 21-day quarantine period for anybody involved in treating West African victims. According to Sky News, Virginia and Georgia are considering following suit.