NEWINGTON - The Central Connecticut Health District has a new director and some new issues to contend with.

       Less than a month after replacing retired Central Connecticut Health District, (CCHD) Director Paul Hutcheon, Charles Brown was explaining to residents and officials in the regional body’s eight member towns about state protocols in response to Ebola.

       He made his presentation to Newington at its Oct. 28 Town Council meeting.

       A month ago, Governor Dan Malloy declared a state of emergency over the virus, which has prompted the quarantine of Connecticut residents returning from parts of West Africa where the outbreak has become an epidemic. The order allows for the quarantine and isolation of individuals suspected of being at risk for contracting the disease.

       â€�"That’s basically finding everyone who has come into contact with a sick Ebola patient,” Brown told the Council. â€�"One missed contact can keep the outbreak going for a much longer time. We spend a lot of time doing this.”

       The public health emergency order can also suspend statutes, regulations, and other requirements, such as licensing requirements for out-of-state medical personnel so not to hinder any support from outside of Connecticut, according to Brown.

       As one of the state’s 21 regional health districts, the CCHD carries out orders--including calls for quarantine and/or isolation--and the suspension of certain regulations can help it to do that more fluidly, Brown said.

       One example he gave is if the CCHD had to quarantine or isolate multiple people.

       â€�"It gives us less of an administrative burden,” Brown said. â€�"Because we don’t have to write up 15 orders and we can actually address the issues at hand.”

       During his presentation, Brown stressed a difference between quarantine and isolation--the latter of which is intended for individuals who have been confirmed to have Ebola. People are quarantined when they are believed to be at the risk of contracting the virus, he said.

       â€�"These people are not sick, but they have the potential to become sick,” Brown said.

       Individuals that are placed in quarantine are monitored for 21 days--the average maximum window in which patients show indications of infection--for Ebola symptoms. Exhibiting any signs of having the virus would prompt the CCHD to move them to isolation, he said.

       The virus’s symptoms include a fever of 100.4 degrees or more, headaches, diarrhea and, in later stages, hemorrhaging.

       CCHD serves around 98,000 people in Wethersfield, Newington, Berlin and Rocky Hill. The District performs a number of health-related functions, including flu prevention efforts, facility inspections, nutrition education, asthma control, and dental screenings for seniors.

       With more than $1 million in total revenue, the CCHD sees most of its funding--$454,000--from its member towns. District expenditures are also at over $1 million, with roughly $500,000 going toward salaries, according to Brown’s presentation.

       With flu season approaching, the CCHD has also focused on administering vaccinations--Brown says that they’ll give out around 2,400--at clinics as well as door to door.

       â€�"So for people that can’t make it out to the clinics, we go to them and make sure that they’re protected from the flu,” Brown said.