[JURIST] Kaci Hickox, the nurse who was detained last year after returning from treating Ebola patients in Africa, has filed a lawsuit [complaint, PDF] against New Jersey government officials for holding her against her will and violating her constitutional rights. The lawsuit, which was filed against Governor Chris Christie [official website], then-Commissioner of Health Mary O’Dowd [official profile] and other health department officials, claims that Hickox was illegally and unconstitutionally held against her will during the mandatory quarantine [materials, PDF] that required anyone returning from certain West African countries be quarantined. She landed at Newark Liberty International Airport on October 24, 2014 and was held against her will for over three days, even though she showed no symptoms of Ebola and was not involved in any situations in Sierra Leone that would have put her at high risk for Ebola. Ms. Hickox says that she didn’t have Ebola, never had symptoms, and referred to her confinement as “Chris Christie’s private prison.” The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) [official website] is representing Hilcox, along with two New York firms: Siegel Teitelbaum & Evans [official website] and McLaughlin & Stern [official website].

The largest Ebola outbreak in history occurred [CDC timeline] in West Africa in 2014, causing great international concern and fear over the virus. By October 2014 when Ms. Hickox was quarantined, the World Health Organization (WHO) [official website] announced that the death tolls had reached 4,493 people and 8,997 people infected. At this time the WHO also announced that the virus was continuing to spread throughout other West African countries. In December 2014 the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) issued a report [JURIST report] regarding problems for children around the world. The report acknowledged the health danger posed to children by the Ebola outbreak in West Africa “which has left thousands of children orphaned and an estimated 5 million out of school.” The Ebola epidemic in West Africa continues today, but much progress is being made and experts are finally beginning to believe that the outbreak is coming to an end.