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Ebola: second Texas healthcare worker diagnosed with virus Second Texas healthcare worker diagnosed with Ebola virus
(about 1 hour later)
A second Texas healthcare worker who treated the first patient in the US to be diagnosed with Ebola has tested positive for the virus, the department of state health services has said. A second Texas healthcare worker who treated Thomas Eric Duncan, the first patient in the US to be diagnosed with Ebola, has tested positive for the virus, the department of state health services said on Wednesday.
At least 4,447 people have died in west Africa in the worst ever outbreak of the virus, which can cause fever, bleeding, vomiting and diarrhoea, and spreads through contact with body fluids, but cases in the US and Europe have been limited so far. The worker was immediately isolated after reporting a fever on Tuesday.
The worker at Texas Health Presbyterian hospital in Dallas, who cared for Thomas Eric Duncan, was immediately isolated after reporting a fever on Tuesday.
“Health officials have interviewed the latest patient to quickly identify any contacts or potential exposures, and those people will be monitored,” the department said.“Health officials have interviewed the latest patient to quickly identify any contacts or potential exposures, and those people will be monitored,” the department said.
Another nurse, 26-year-old Nina Pham, was the first person to have been infected with Ebola in the US, and was diagnosed this weekend. She had cared for Duncan during much of his 11 days in hospital. He died in an isolation ward on 8 October. At a press briefing on Wednesday morning, Dallas mayor Mike Rawlings said the city’s fire-rescue department has begun decontaminating common areas of the new patient’s apartment and outside the building, and has informed neighbors of the diagnosis. The new patient lives alone and has no pets, Rawlings said.
The hospital said on Tuesday that Pham was “in good condition”. “The only way that we are going to beat this is person by person, moment by moment, detail by detail,” Rawlings said. “We want to deal with facts, not fear ... It may get worse before it gets better, but it will get better,” he added.
A nurse, 26-year-old Nina Pham, was the first person to have been infected with Ebola in the US, and was diagnosed this weekend. She had cared for Duncan during much of his 11 days as a patient at Texas Health Presbyterian hospital in Dallas. He died in an isolation ward on 8 October.
The hospital said on Tuesday that Pham was in good condition.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said it was performing confirmation testing of Texas’s preliminary examinations on the new patient.The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said it was performing confirmation testing of Texas’s preliminary examinations on the new patient.
“An additional healthcare worker testing positive for Ebola is a serious concern, and the CDC has already taken active steps to minimise the risk to health care workers and the patient,” it said. “An additional healthcare worker testing positive for Ebola is a serious concern, and the CDC has already taken active steps to minimise the risk to healthcare workers and the patient,” it said.
The director of CDC, Dr Thomas Frieden, said on Tuesday the agency was establishing a rapid-response team to help hospitals “hands on, within hours” whenever there was a confirmed case of Ebola. The director of the CDC, Dr Thomas Frieden, said on Tuesday the agency was establishing a rapid-response team to help hospitals “hands on, within hours” whenever there was a confirmed case of Ebola.
Frieden also conceded that his agency should have sent a larger team to help after Duncan tested positive.
“That might have prevented this infection,” Frieden said, referring to Pham. “Ebola is unfamiliar. It’s scary and getting it right is really important because the stakes are so high,” he added.
Frieden said Tuesday that investigators have yet to identify the apparent breach in protocol that led to Pham’s contracting the virus. Nurses at the hospital have reportedly accused it of being unprepared to treat Duncan, saying that it did not provide the proper protective gear and repeatedly changed its protocols for his treatment.
Frieden has come under pressure over the response to Ebola, but White House spokesman Josh Earnest said President Obama was confident of Frieden’s ability to lead the public health effort.Frieden has come under pressure over the response to Ebola, but White House spokesman Josh Earnest said President Obama was confident of Frieden’s ability to lead the public health effort.
At least 4,447 people have died in west Africa in the worst ever outbreak of the virus, which can cause fever, bleeding, vomiting and diarrhoea, and spreads through contact with body fluids, but cases in the US and Europe have been limited so far.
Obama was due to hold a video conference on Wednesday with British, French, German and Italian leaders to discuss Ebola and other international issues, the White House said.Obama was due to hold a video conference on Wednesday with British, French, German and Italian leaders to discuss Ebola and other international issues, the White House said.
Prospects for a quick end to the contagion fell as the World Health Organisation predicted that the three worst-hit countries in west Africa – Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea – could produce as many as 10,000 new cases a week by early December.Prospects for a quick end to the contagion fell as the World Health Organisation predicted that the three worst-hit countries in west Africa – Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea – could produce as many as 10,000 new cases a week by early December.