Ebola crisis turns a corner as U.S. issues new treatment protocols

Nurses and health care staff pause for a moment of prayer during a rally in support of their colleagues Nina Pham and Amber Vinson, who are now in treatment after contracting the Ebola virus, outside the Texas Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas October 17, 2014. REUTERS/Jaime R. Carrero

DALLAS (Reuters) - The United States issued stringent new protocols on Monday for health workers treating Ebola victims, directing medical teams to wear protective gear that leaves no skin or hair exposed to prevent medical workers from becoming infected.

The new guidelines from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta come as 43 people who were exposed to the first patient diagnosed in the United States were declared risk free, easing a national sense of crisis that took hold after two Texas nurses who treated him contracted the disease.