The U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has issued a new set of guidelines for handling people at risk of catching the Ebola virus, in which they hope the states will follow. 

The new guidelines follow very strict measures taken place in New York and New Jersey that experts feel are overkill. The local government in these areas implemented measures that require all medical workers traveling to the area and who've been treating Ebola patients in West African countries to undergo a mandatory 21-day quarantine. 

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The CDC now suggests that anyone who's potentially been exposed to the Ebola virus and considered high risk should voluntarily isolate themselves instead of undergoing a strict 21-day quarantine by government officials. Anyone isolating themselves must consistently be monitored for symptoms. 

CDC also defines "high-risk" as pertaining to those who've treated or helped an Ebola patient without the necessary protective gear - rather than New York's assumption that every medical worker is a high-risk, even if they took the necessary precautions in Africa. 

The CDC also suggests that any medical workers who aren't considered a high-risk according to their guidelines,  simply undergo "direct active monitoring" to determine any emergence of possible Ebola symptoms. 

A nurse who was professionally treating Ebola patients in West Africa was placed in quarantine after she arrived to New Jersey, even though she tested negative and was showing no signs of having any Ebola symptoms. Health experts have criticized these measures as being unnecessary, which led the CDC to release their own set of guidelines based on science instead of fear.  

"If local governments wish to be more stringent than what the CDC recommends, that's within their authority," CDC director Tom Frieden says. "But these are based on science."

TagsEbola outbreak, New Jersey, ebola quarantine, ebola monitoring guidelines, Science