NYC officials map Ebola strategies

Mayor Bill de Blasio, urging calm, strategized Thursday with top city officials on how to detect and contain any potential Ebola virus infection in New York City.

Meeting for almost two hours at City Hall, they hashed out "what-if" scenarios for handling a local outbreak of Ebola, which the World Health Organization says has already killed 3,800 people globally, nearly all in West Africa. On Wednesday, the virus claimed its first U.S. fatality, a traveler from Liberia in Dallas.

"We now face the possibility of being affected by a pandemic," de Blasio said.

Dr. Mary Bassett, New York City's health commissioner, emphasized that there have been no known cases in the city, and that the virus is transmitted only by direct contact with the bodily fluids of a sick person.

Since July 31, the city has screened 88 people worried they contracted Ebola, but none of them did. Most had no serious illness. All major city hospitals have isolation units to quarantine a person suspected of being infected.

Those at the meeting discussed four or five Ebola-related scenarios -- such as a passenger on a city-bound plane from West Africa who is sick with fever and vomiting, said Joseph Esposito, the city's commissioner of emergency management.

Starting Saturday, screeners will question travelers arriving at Kennedy Airport from the affected region and take their temperature. The screening process is set to expand to other airports, including Newark Liberty.

By Matthew Chayes

matthew.chayes@newsday.comchayesmatthew

Matthew Chayes, a Newsday reporter since 2007, covers New York City.