Dallas TheUnited Statesissued stringent new protocols on Monday for health workers treatingEbolavictims, 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 inAtlantacome as 43 people who were exposed to the first patient diagnosed in theUnited Stateswere declared risk free, easing a national sense of crisis that took hold after twoTexasnurses who treated him contracted the disease.

Under new protocols,Ebolahealthcare workers also must undergo special training and demonstrate competency in using protective equipment. Use of the gear, now including coveralls, and single-use, disposable hoods, must be overseen by a supervisor to ensure proper procedures are followed when caring for patients withEbola, which is transmitted through direct contact with bodily fluids but is not airborne. (CDC protocols: http://1.usa.gov/1vYIwWA)

The hemorrhagic fever has killed more than 4,500 people, mainly in the West African nations ofLiberia,Sierra LeoneandGuinea.

"Even a single healthcare worker infection is unacceptable," CDC DirectorTom Friedensaid in a teleconference with reporters outlining the new regulations.

The old guidelines for health workers, based on World Health Organization protocols, said they should wear masks or goggles but allowed some skin exposure.

More than 40 people exposed to the firstEbolapatient diagnosed in theUnited States,Thomas Eric Duncan, emerged from isolation with a clean bill of health on Monday.

Among those released from monitoring on Monday were the only four individuals quarantined by official order - Duncan's fiance and three other people who shared an apartment with him inDallasbefore he was hospitalized. Duncan died on Oct. 8.

Texasofficials said 120 other potentially exposed people in the state, more than half of them medical workers who had contact with Duncan after he was hospitalized, were still being monitored forEbolasymptoms for the remainder of a 21-day incubation period.

That group includes the two nurses who became infected while treating him atTexas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas, presumably because they were wearing flimsy protective gear that left some of their skin exposed.

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CDC issues new protocols for health care workers treating Ebola patients