Health Workers Prepare To Quarantine Apartment Of Dallas Ebola Patient

A firm in Dallas, Texas has reportedly taken on the daunting task of cleaning the apartment of the man who was recently diagnosed with Ebola and is being treated at a local hospital.

A Dallas-based hazardous materials team known as Cleaning Guys has reportedly arrived at the apartment of Thomas Eric Duncan, who was diagnosed with Ebola earlier this week after arriving back to the U.S. from Liberia. While in Liberia, Duncan had reportedly helped a pregnant woman suffering from the disease get to the hospital.

Duncan's partner, who is being identified by the media as Louise, as well as the woman's son and two nephews have been placed in quarantine until October 19 because they had contact with Duncan before he went to the hospital to receive treatment.

Although Cleaning Guys says they're ready to disinfect Duncan's apartment, they are reportedly waiting for a go-ahead from the state's health department. Multiple media outlets note that towels and sheets used by Duncan when he was sick have not been washed and are sitting in plastic bags in the apartment.

CNN's Sanjay Gupta recently said that Ebola can be transferred to other people by objects such as towels and sheets over a period of hours or days since they were last used by the infected person.

Removing the infected items from Duncan's apartment has been deadlocked due to a disagreement between the Center for Disease Control and the Department of Transportation. While the Center for Disease Control argues the Ebola-ridden items can be disposed of like other medical waste, the transportation department says the items cannot be transported due to their highly-infectious nature.

"The CDC and the DOT regulations have been in conflict. It's been an ongoing issue that we've been dealing with," Centers for Disease Control and Prevention spokeswoman Abbigail Tumpey told CNN.

While health workers in Dallas attempt to address the current Ebola issue, a hospital in Washington, D.C. reported on Friday that it too was monitoring a patient for possible Ebola at one of its local hospitals.