Lawrenceville Inmate Being Monitored For Ebola Symptoms at Cherokee County Jail

By Kristal Dixon (Patch Staff)

A Lawrenceville, Ga., man in custody at the Cherokee County Adult Detention Center is being monitored twice a day for Ebola symptoms, the sheriff’s office said Tuesday afternoon.

Lt. Jay Baker, spokesperson with the sheriff’s office, said the suspect was taken into custody on Oct. 9 after he was screened for the disease at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. Baker said the suspect showed no symptoms of the hemorrhaging fever.

Baker said the man — Justin Clay St. Germaine, 33, of Lawrenceville — had been on an oil rig off the coast of Gabon, a west African country not on the watch list for the disease. St. Germaine is charged by Woodstock police on two counts of aggravated child molestation, child molestation and rape and has no bond.

Gabon sits along west coast of central Africa and is bordered by Congo, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea. The Centers for Disease Control has not indicated whether any cases of Ebola have been reported in the country.

“The Cherokee Sheriff’s Office and Woodstock Police Department were in communication with the CDC throughout this process,” Baker added.

St. Germaine was screened prior to entering the jail and once again showed no symptoms, Baker stated.

“Out of an abundance of caution, he was placed in one our negative pressure isolation cells, which has its own ventilation system,” Baker added, noting the agency has four such cells. “Our medical unit has been in contact with the CDC since he has been in our custody and he is evaluated twice daily and continues to show no symptoms.”

The sheriff’s office earlier this month announcedit will review its protocols after a Cobb County Jail inmate tested negative for the disease.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, symptoms of Ebola include a fever greater than 101.5 degrees Fahrenheit, severe headache, muscle pain, weakness, diarrhea, vomiting, abdominal pain and unexplained hemorrhaging. Symptoms usually appear between two and 21 days after exposure, but the average is between eight and 10.

(Photo: Justin Clay St. Germaine, 33, of Lawrenceville. Credit: Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office)