Dutch doctors ebola-free

The two Dutch doctors who were admitted to the Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC) several weeks ago, are out of quarantine and back with their families, the Algemeen Dagblad reports. 

The two medical workers voluntarily chose to quarantine themselves for two weeks on a boat in Roelofarendsveen. They decided not to go outside, not to touch anyone, and to take their temperatures two times a day, wash their hands, and to call the hospital at the first sign of something wrong.

On Tuesday, Erdi Huizenga and Nick Zwinkels stepped off the boat to greet their families, friends and partners physically for the first time in months. Visitation was allowed on the boat, but no physical interaction.

In September, the doctors came back from Sierra Leone where they were working as medical aid workers. They had treated patients without wearing protective clothing. These patients later developed ebola symptoms and died. The hospital had to be closed while the doctors were transported to The Netherlands.

A week after returning from the African continent, Erdi Huizenga was once again brought to the LUMC, complaining of a fever. After blood tests, it seemed she had malaria. She could return to the boat after three days, and is now definitely ebola-free, as is Zwinkels.

"Of course I'm relieved, but I worried about the situation about Sierra Leone. The number of victims there has doubled in three weeks' time", Huizenga tells the AD. The doctors want to go back there as soon as possible, to continue their job and hopefully save lives.