The Cobb County Jail is again accepting new inmates after it imposed a moratorium on agencies bringing prisoners to the facility after an unnamed prisoner was suspected of having the ebola virus. The prisoner who was arrested at 3 a.m. on Thursday night for DUI and traffic infractions, complained of flu-like symptoms and told authorities that he had recently visited Africa, according to a jail spokesperson.
The area where the inmate was quarantined has been cleaned.
For a brief period, the jail prevented local agencies from bringing inmates to the jail. However, that ban has been lifted.
Ebola is a fatal virus that spreads through direct contact with an infected animal or person—typically via blood, bodily fluids, or tissue transmission (i.e., shared needles or infected bodily secretions).