Ebola Outbreak 2014 News Update, Watchlist & Death Toll: New York & New Jersey Tighten Grip; Mali Girl Dead

Following the unfortunate case of new Ebola-positive Dr. Craig Spencer, the states of New York and New Jersey will automatically quarantine health professionals returning from Ebola-stricken countries.

A female healthcare worker, who arrived in New Jersey from West Africa, was put into quarantine firsthand, wrote Reuters.

The mandatory, 21-day quarantine policy applies at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport and New Jersey's Newark Liberty International Airport. The new protocol was officially announced by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.

The governors announced in a joint statement, "There will also be a mandatory quarantine for any individual who had direct contact with an individual infected with the Ebola virus while in one of the three West African nations [Liberia, Sierra Leone or Guinea], including any medical personnel having performed medical services to individuals infected with the Ebola virus."

People with travel history in the said countries will also be monitored. The officials pointed that even without direct contact to an infected person, these individuals may be quarantined depending on their situation.

We have previously reported the events surrounding Spencer's diagnosis. At present, contact tracing of all his associations continue. Confined in Bellevue Hospital, the physician presented symptoms such as fever, nausea and abdominal pain. He returned to New York from Guinea on Oct. 17, and began showing signs of the deadly West African virus while on a bowling alley in Brooklyn.

The Ebola virus may not be contagious unless the carrier shows signs of the disease. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention spokesman Tom Skinner assured via NBC News that the health agency is doing its part to protect the public.

Meanwhile, Texas nurse Nina Pham has been declared Ebola-free. U.S. President Barack Obama gave the Ebola survivor a hug at the Oval Office. The Vietnamese-American nurse said over BBC, "I feel fortunate and blessed to be standing here today. I am on my way back to recovery."

Nurse Amber Vinson was also confirmed Ebola-free, but she is still held by Emory University Hospital until further notice. Vinson and Spencer are the current Ebola patients under treatment in the U.S.

In Africa, the 2-year-old Malian girl has died -- but the unfortunate news does not end there. The victim was reported to have "many" contacts upon her arrival. According to Time, she had close and unprotected contact with 43 people, 10 of which were health workers. She had been bleeding from the nose before leaving Guinea, confirming that she was symptomatic during travel.

To date, the Ebola virus has infected more than 9,900 people, almost 4,900 of which died.