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NY Fire Department Bans 911 Dispatchers, Radio From Saying 'Ebola': Reports

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The New York Fire Department (FDNY) has issued a memo banning all 911 dispatchers and emergency radio channels from using the word "Ebola" when referring to the virus to avoid panic spreading across the city, the New York Post reported Thursday.

MOSCOW, October 16 (RIA Novosti) - The New York Fire Department (FDNY) has issued a memo banning all 911 dispatchers and emergency radio channels from using the word "Ebola" when referring to the virus to avoid panic spreading across the city, the New York Post reported Thursday.

"At no point shall a dispatcher transmit over the radio any message containing the word 'Ebola' or related terminology," the memo acquired by the news outlet said, adding that dispatchers must use "F/T" (Fever/Travel) to refer to a caller who complains of fever after having traveled to West Africa.

"Just like you can't say bomb on an airplane, we can't say 'Ebola'," an unnamed source told the newspaper. "Back in the '80s and '90s, taking universal precautions meant someone had AIDS. And we weren't allowed to say AIDS either."

According to the newspaper, New York Authorities would like to curb the spread of panic as they believe they are ready to respond to any emergency. FDNY medics have been ordered to wear polyethylene-coated paper gowns, gloves and face masks with plastic eye visors when attending to at-risk patients, as indicated on a 19-step memo.

The Bellevue hospital, having 20 isolation rooms, is on standby ready to handle any suspected cases in New York City.

"We can replicate the same isolation rooms in other hospitals if needed," Dr. Ram Raju, the commissioner of NY's Health and Hospitals Corp., was quoted as saying by the newspaper.

Meanwhile, the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed the preliminary positive Ebola tests for a second nurse in Texas on Wednesday, making it the third infection on US soil.

Two nurses, Nina Pham, 26, and Amber Vinson, 29 were among those attending the deceased Thomas Eric Duncan at the Texas Presbyterian Hospital.

The worst Ebola epidemic in history begun in West Africa in the beginning of the year, causing a total of 4,493 deaths with 8,997 reported infections according to the latest World Health Organizations report on October 12. The hardest hit countries are Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, with Liberia accounting for 2,458 of the reported deaths.

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