Health experts were observing 12 to 18 people who were in contact with the first person to be diagnosed with the deadly Ebola virus in the United States and who was in serious condition in a Texas hospital, officials said yesterday.
The confirmation that a man who flew to Texas from Liberia later fell ill with the hemorrhagic fever, put US health officials and the public on alert to take steps to contain the virus, which has killed at least 3,300 people in three impoverished West African countries.
The patient was evaluated initially last Friday and sent home from Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital with antibiotics, a critical missed opportunity that could result in others being exposed to the virus, infectious disease experts said. The man was then admitted to the same hospital on Sunday.
A hospital spokeswoman said yesterday that his condition was serious. The man was not identified by the hospital for privacy reasons, but the Associated Press gave his name as Thomas Eric Duncan.
US stocks fell sharply. Airline and hotel company shares dropped over concerns that the spread of Ebola outside of Africa might curtail travel. Drugmakers with experimental Ebola treatments in the pipeline saw their shares rise.
US health officials have said they are confident that the virus can be contained in the US.
“People can be confident here in this country that we have the medical infrastructure in place to prevent the broad spread of Ebola,” White House spokesman Josh Earnest said on CNN.
Texas health officials said 12 to 18 people who had been in contact with the patient were being monitored.
The patient was initially evaluated on Friday and sent home
They also said health workers who took care of the patient have so far tested negative for the virus and there are no other suspected cases in the state. Texas Governor Rick Perry told a news conference that school-age children have had contact with the Ebola patient but he was confident the virus would be contained. Anyone who might have had contact with the patient will be closely monitored for the next 21 days, the time it can take for symptoms to appear.
“We have a seven-person team in Dallas today helping to review that with the family and make sure we identify everyone that could have had contact with him,” Dr. Thomas Frieden, director of the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, said yesterday.
Ebola spreads through contact with bodily fluids like blood or saliva, which health experts say limits its potential to infect others, unlike airborne diseases. Still, the long window of time before patients exhibit signs of infection, means an infected person can travel without detection.