Rutland Mayor Chris Louras exchanged five emails with the Vermont man now under quarantine while the man was still in West Africa, according to copies of the emails obtained by VTDigger Thursday.
Louras communicated with Peter Italia between October 15 and October 26 and ultimately learned when Italia was returning to the United States, the emails show.
Italia is under a 21-day voluntary quarantine in an undisclosed location, a precaution taken in the event that he was exposed to the Ebola virus during his trip to Africa. So far, he has not presented symptoms.
The Rutland sheriff and a health department official met Italia at JFK Airport in New York City and transported him back to Vermont Monday afternoon.
Louras said he initially made contact to confirm that Italia was, in fact, in Africa. He also wanted to find out Italia’s reasons for going there and open a line of communication to find out when Italia planned to return.
City and state officials learned that he was in Africa after seeking him as a possible witness in an unrelated trial.
The mayor had Italia’s email address on file due to Italia’s involvement in a landlord-tenant dispute in Rutland in July. Louras said he forwarded the emails to state and federal officials and remained in contact with Italia, per their advice.
According to his Facebook profile, Italia went to Africa September 25 to help treat patients there. Italia calls himself a doctor but is not licensed in Vermont. He has also written a book claiming he can travel through time and has other special powers.
Louras said Thursday that he could not comment on Italia’s mental state.
The emails reflect Italia’s apparent frustration with the handling of the Ebola epidemic in Africa and his frustration after having not been taken seriously by aid organizations he planned to join in Guinea.
Italia told Louras he had verified medical credentials and had “trained and taught in U.S. hospitals” but has not been recognized as a doctor because he graduated from a medical school in the Dominican Republic.
Italia also told the mayor he has written two books, including one in which he describes an “entirely new calculus method” and the other where he describes how to aid seriously ill and dying patients through the use of time travel and other unconventional methods.
Louras wrote three times to Italia and asked what he had learned in Africa and whether he had successfully joined an aid organization.
In his second email to Louras, Italia said he had just returned from a trip to rural villages along the border of Guinea and Sierra Leone.
Italia was vexed that national and international media outlets had ignored his attempts to contact them with criticism of the way the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and World Health Organization are handling the Ebola outbreak.
Italia’s last email to Louras, on Oct. 26, said he was heading back to the U.S.
His Facebook posts show he had tried to return to the U.S. on October 23 but discovered that he had been placed on a “no fly” list. He ultimately boarded a plane several days later, according to his Facebook posts.
Rutland County Sheriff Stephen Benard and Joanne Calvi, a Department of Health nurse and director of the district office, met Italia at JFK airport Monday afternoon in the customs area.
Italia agreed to ride back with them to Vermont and undergo voluntary quarantine. He spent one night at a Main Street motel in Rutland before officials moved him to a secure, undisclosed, location, officials said.
Local public health nurses visit him twice daily to check for symptoms and take his temperature.
