A health worker in Texas at the hospital treating the first person diagnosed with Ebola in the United States tested positive for the deadly virus yesterday, raising fresh worries about the spread of the disease beyond West Africa.
The worker at the Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital had been wearing protective gear during treatment of the patient Thomas Eric Duncan, who died last week. The worker reported a low-grade fever on Friday night and was isolated and referred for testing, health officials said yesterday.
We knew a second case could be a reality, and we’ve been preparing for this possibility
“We knew a second case could be a reality, and we’ve been preparing for this possibility,” said Dr David Lakey, commissioner of the health service.
The worker is the first person in the United States to test positive for Ebola who has not been to West Africa, where an outbreak has killed more than 4,000 people, mostly in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea.
“This individual was following full CDC precautions, which are barrier and droplet gown, glove, mask and shield,” Dan Varga, the hospital’s chief clinical officer told a news conference in Dallas.
The hospital has been criticized for at first turning away Duncan when he first showed up there on September 25, saying he had been in Liberia and had a fever. About two days after he was discharged, he was taken back by ambulance and put in an isolation unit.
The director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said in an interview with network CBS yesterday there was likely a lapse in protocol at the hospital that led to the health care worker being infected.
“We’re deeply concerned about this new development,” Dr Thomas Frieden said in an interview on CBS’ Face the Nation yesterday. “I think the fact that we don’t know of a breach in protocol is concerning because clearly there was a breach in protocol.” Duncan died in an isolation ward on October 8, 11 days after being admitted, with more than 50 people attending to his care. The hospital said it was decontaminating its isolation unit while health officials said Duncan’s body had been cremated.
None of the 10 people who had close contact with him or 38 people who had contact with that group have shown any symptoms, state health officials said.
Texas officials did not identify the health worker or give any details about the person, but CNN said it was a woman nurse.
The CDC will conduct a test to confirm results of testing in Austin that showed the worker had Ebola, health officials said.
Dr Anthony Fauci, the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said the patient had direct contact with Duncan in providing care. In view of the present circumstances he predicted the CDC would “fortify” the protocols for caring for Ebola patients after reviewing the incident in Dallas.
There was a yellow hazard-ous material drum on the lawn of the red brick apartment where the health worker lived and information pamphlets about the Ebola virus were stuffed in the doors in the surrounding blocks of the apartment.