80 people being monitored in Dallas area for Ebola; Update: 100?

◼ The net keeps getting cast wider and wider in the CDC effort to contain the nation’s first Ebola case in Dallas. Initially, only a handful of people had been under observation, comprising all those who had direct contact with the patient, now identified as Thomas Eric Duncan. Four are under quarantine orders, but the number of people under observation has grown to 80

Update: CNN now reports that the number of potential primary and secondary contacts has grown to 100:

Health officials are reaching out to as many as 100 people who may have had contact with the first Ebola patient diagnosed in the U.S., a spokeswoman with the Texas Department of State Health Services said Thursday.

These are people who are still being questioned because they may have crossed paths with the patient either at the hospital, at his apartment complex or in the community.

“Out of an abundance of caution, we’re starting with this very wide net, including people who have had even brief encounters with the patient or the patient’s home,” spokeswoman Carrie Williams said. “The number will drop as we focus in on those whose contact may represent a potential risk of infection.”

The number of direct contacts who have been identified and are being monitored right now is “more than 12,” a federal official told CNN on Thursday.