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| Health care worker with Ebola flew on commercial flight a day before being diagnosed | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| The second health-care worker diagnosed with Ebola had a fever of 99.5 degrees Fahrenheit before boarding a passenger jet on Monday, a day before she reported symptoms of the virus and was tested, according to public health officials. | |
| Even though there appeared to be little risk for the other people on that flight, she should not have traveled that way, Thomas Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said during a news conference Wednesday. | |
| “She should not have flown on a commercial airline,” Frieden said. | |
| This health-care worker flew on a Frontier Airlines flight from Cleveland to Dallas-Fort Worth with more than 130 other passengers. She did not have nausea or vomit on the plane, so the risk to anyone around her is “extremely low,” Frieden said. | |
| The health-care worker was not identified by public health officials, but family members told Reuters and the Dallas Morning News that her name is Amber Vinson, a nurse at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital. She was part of a team that had cared for Thomas Eric Duncan, a Liberian man who flew to Texas and was diagnosed with Ebola last month, during his hospitalization in Dallas. Duncan died last week. Nina Pham, a nurse who also cared for Duncan, was diagnosed with Ebola on Sunday. | The health-care worker was not identified by public health officials, but family members told Reuters and the Dallas Morning News that her name is Amber Vinson, a nurse at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital. She was part of a team that had cared for Thomas Eric Duncan, a Liberian man who flew to Texas and was diagnosed with Ebola last month, during his hospitalization in Dallas. Duncan died last week. Nina Pham, a nurse who also cared for Duncan, was diagnosed with Ebola on Sunday. |
| Vinson, who flew from Dallas to Cleveland on Friday, flew back to Texas on Monday, a day after Pham was diagnosed. She reported a fever on Tuesday and was isolated and tested for Ebola. | |
| Still, the fact that she boarded a commercial flight raises the question of how much the other 50 health-care workers who entered Duncan’s room could have traveled or moved around in recent days. The CDC recommends controlled movement on private flights or vehicles for people who may have been exposed to Ebola, Frieden said. | |
| “We will, from this moment forward, ensure that no individual monitored for exposure undergoes travel in any way other than controlled movement,” Frieden said Wednesday. He said the agency would work with state and local authorities to enforce this restriction. | |
| It is still unclear how, exactly, Pham and Vinson were infected with Ebola, but Frieden suggested on Wednesday that it occurred during the days after Duncan was admitted to the hospital and before the CDC team arrived. Duncan was placed in isolation at the hospital on Sunday, Sept. 28, and the CDC did not arrive until Wednesday, Sept. 30, the day Duncan was diagnosed. Pham and Vinson both cared for Duncan during these days and had “extensive contact” with Duncan, who was vomiting and had diarrhea, Frieden said. | |
| Vinson, who was being treated at Texas Health Presbyterian, will be transferred Emory University Hospital in Atlanta on Wednesday for treatment, according to the CDC. She is “ill but clinically stable,” Frieden said. | |
| While visiting Ohio, she stayed with three family members who are employees of Kent State University, the school said in a statement Wednesday. She did not actually visit the campus, Kent State president Beverly Warren said in the school’s statement. The three family members have been asked to stay off of the school’s campus and self-monitor for the next 21 days. | |
| Vinson graduated from Kent State, earning degrees there in 2006 and 2008, according to the university. | |
| The plane Vinson traveled on arrived in Dallas at 8:16 p.m. and remained overnight because it was done with flights for the day. After that, the plane “received a thorough cleaning per our normal procedures” before resuming service Tuesday, Frontier said in a statement. It was also cleaned on Tuesday night in Cleveland, the airline said. | |
| People with Ebola are not contagious until they are symptomatic, and the health care worker was not exhibiting any symptoms until Tuesday, authorities say. Ebola can be spread through direct contact with bodily fluids, and it is considered difficult to contract. | People with Ebola are not contagious until they are symptomatic, and the health care worker was not exhibiting any symptoms until Tuesday, authorities say. Ebola can be spread through direct contact with bodily fluids, and it is considered difficult to contract. |
| The CDC is still asking all 132 passengers on Flight 1143 to call 1-800-232-4636, a hotline that will put them in touch with public health officials to determine if any of them need to be monitored going forward. But it is not known how many crew members were on the flight as well as how many people were involved in the cleaning of the plane in Dallas and Cleveland. | |
| “The safety and security of our customers and employees is our primary concern,” Frontier said in a statement Wednesday. “Frontier will continue to work closely with CDC and other governmental agencies to ensure proper protocols and procedures are being followed.” | “The safety and security of our customers and employees is our primary concern,” Frontier said in a statement Wednesday. “Frontier will continue to work closely with CDC and other governmental agencies to ensure proper protocols and procedures are being followed.” |
| Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins said at an early-morning news conference that the female worker was isolated within 90 minutes of having a higher temperature. He had also warned that additional cases of Ebola were considered likely. | Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins said at an early-morning news conference that the female worker was isolated within 90 minutes of having a higher temperature. He had also warned that additional cases of Ebola were considered likely. |
| “We are preparing contingencies for more, and that is a very real possibility,” Jenkins said. | “We are preparing contingencies for more, and that is a very real possibility,” Jenkins said. |
| President Obama postponed a trip to New Jersey and Connecticut Wednesday to convene a White House meeting about Ebola. The White House said he will meet with the cabinet agencies coordinating the government’s response to the virus. | President Obama postponed a trip to New Jersey and Connecticut Wednesday to convene a White House meeting about Ebola. The White House said he will meet with the cabinet agencies coordinating the government’s response to the virus. |
| The CDC had said Tuesday it had not determined how Pham was infected, but it had determined that a team of about 76 people — including Vinson – had possible exposure to Duncan during his care. On Wednesday, Frieden said about 50 health-care workers entered Duncan’s room, but it was not immediately known if the other people were still viewed as at risk. | |
| Decon in progress in apt building of 2nd health care worker with Ebola. @dallasfireres_q @dallaspiosana #DallasEbola pic.twitter.com/QGACzhqXvA — Maj. Max Geron (@MaxDPD) October 15, 2014 | Decon in progress in apt building of 2nd health care worker with Ebola. @dallasfireres_q @dallaspiosana #DallasEbola pic.twitter.com/QGACzhqXvA — Maj. Max Geron (@MaxDPD) October 15, 2014 |
| Decon in progress in apt building of 2nd health care worker with Ebola. @dallasfireres_q @dallaspiosana #DallasEbola pic.twitter.com/QGACzhqXvA | Decon in progress in apt building of 2nd health care worker with Ebola. @dallasfireres_q @dallaspiosana #DallasEbola pic.twitter.com/QGACzhqXvA |
| — Maj. Max Geron (@MaxDPD) October 15, 2014 | — Maj. Max Geron (@MaxDPD) October 15, 2014 |
| National Nurses United, a labor organization, issued a statement it said came from nurses at the hospital who reported feeling “unsupported, unprepared, lied to and deserted to handle their own situation.” | National Nurses United, a labor organization, issued a statement it said came from nurses at the hospital who reported feeling “unsupported, unprepared, lied to and deserted to handle their own situation.” |
| Among other things, the statement said that the guidelines for handling Duncan were constantly shifting, and that for the first two days of Duncan’s isolation, the protective equipment given to nurses did not cover their necks. | Among other things, the statement said that the guidelines for handling Duncan were constantly shifting, and that for the first two days of Duncan’s isolation, the protective equipment given to nurses did not cover their necks. |
| “A lot is being said about what may or may not have occurred to cause our colleagues to contract this disease, but it’s clear there was an exposure somewhere, sometime in their treatment of Mr. Duncan,” Daniel Varga, chief clinical officer for Texas Health Resources, the hospital system that oversees Texas Health Presbyterian, said Wednesday. “We’re a hospital that may have done some things differently with the benefit of what we know today.” | “A lot is being said about what may or may not have occurred to cause our colleagues to contract this disease, but it’s clear there was an exposure somewhere, sometime in their treatment of Mr. Duncan,” Daniel Varga, chief clinical officer for Texas Health Resources, the hospital system that oversees Texas Health Presbyterian, said Wednesday. “We’re a hospital that may have done some things differently with the benefit of what we know today.” |
| Frieden had said Tuesday that workers at hospitals across the United States were extremely concerned about treating Ebola patients. | |
| “I’ve been hearing loud and clear from health care workers around the country that they’re worried, that they don’t feel prepared to take care of a patient with Ebola,” he said during a news conference. | “I’ve been hearing loud and clear from health care workers around the country that they’re worried, that they don’t feel prepared to take care of a patient with Ebola,” he said during a news conference. |
| Frieden expressed regret that his agency had not done more to help the hospital in Dallas with infection control. He said that from now on, the CDC will dispatch an “Ebola response team” to any hospital with a confirmed Ebola case. | Frieden expressed regret that his agency had not done more to help the hospital in Dallas with infection control. He said that from now on, the CDC will dispatch an “Ebola response team” to any hospital with a confirmed Ebola case. |
| “I wish we had put a team like this on the ground the day the first patient was diagnosed,” he said. “That might have prevented this infection.” | “I wish we had put a team like this on the ground the day the first patient was diagnosed,” he said. “That might have prevented this infection.” |
| The CDC sent an additional team of 16 people to Texas to help manage infection control and monitor hospital workers, following an initial group of 10 that had been sent on Sept. 30, the day Duncan was diagnosed. | The CDC sent an additional team of 16 people to Texas to help manage infection control and monitor hospital workers, following an initial group of 10 that had been sent on Sept. 30, the day Duncan was diagnosed. |
| The infections of two health care workers in Dallas, combined with the numerous times the hospital has changed its story regarding the way Duncan was initially cared for, have created a sense of unease about how prepared U.S. hospitals are for additional Ebola cases. | The infections of two health care workers in Dallas, combined with the numerous times the hospital has changed its story regarding the way Duncan was initially cared for, have created a sense of unease about how prepared U.S. hospitals are for additional Ebola cases. |
| [This post has been updated. First published: 11:28 a.m. Last update: 1:55 p.m.] | |
| Abby Phillip contributed to this report. | |
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