(Bloomberg) — Texas is winding down its monitoring of people whohad contact with the state's three Ebola patients, withthe 21-day period ending tomorrow for a final hospital worker.

The unnamed worker, who handled medical waste Oct. 17, will becleared from twice-daily checks by the end of the day tomorrow, theTexas State Health Services Department said today in a statement.The person is one of 177 people, including health-care workers andmembers of the patients' households and communities, who have beenmonitored, the agency said.

The worker's clearance would represent the end of a saga thattemporarily made Dallas the focal point for the debate over U.S.preparedness for the virus. The city's Texas Health PresbyterianHospital accepted its first Ebola patient, Thomas EricDuncan, after initially sending him away two days earlier. WhileDuncan died Oct. 8, two nurses who had contact with him and wereinfected have recovered.

The initial fear that accompanied Ebola's arrival in the U.S. isdying down as it becomes clear that transmission is rare withproper monitoring. Ohio, where Dallas nurse Amber Vinson traveledbefore she was diagnosed, was declared Ebola-free earlierthis week.

In New York, 357 people are under monitoring, mostly recentarrivals from Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone wherethe Ebola outbreak is centered. Craig Spencer, the NewYork City doctor who contracted Ebola while caring forpatients in Guinea, is improving and remains in stable condition,health authorities said yesterday.

The Ebola outbreak has claimed almost 5,000 livesafter infecting about 13,000 people — mostly in West Africa, whereit continues to be a significant threat. There is no approved curefor the disease, and current standard care involves supporting thepatient and using antibiotics to fight secondary infections —treatment that's easier to handle in the developed world.

President Barack Obama asked Congress yesterday for $6.2 billionin emergency funding to combat the spread of the virus in WestAfrica and reduce risks for U.S. citizens.

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