Texas health care worker has Ebola
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A TEXAS health care worker who treated an Ebola victim has tested positive for the deadly tropical fever, dealing a blow to the worldwide battle to stem the outbreak.
More than 4,000 people have died of Ebola in seven countries since the start of the year, according to the World Health Organization, and the epidemic appears to be outpacing efforts to fight it.
If preliminary test results are confirmed, the Texas patient would be the second person diagnosed with the illness, and apparently the first to contract it on US soil, a day after US airports began screening travelers from epidemic-hit west Africa.
“We knew a second case could be a reality, and we’ve been preparing for this possibility,” said Dr David Lakey, commissioner of the Texas Department of State Health Services.
“We are broadening our team in Dallas and working with extreme diligence to prevent further spread.”
The health care worker from the Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas reported a slight fever last Friday and was isolated and referred for testing, health authorities said yesterday. They did not identify the worker or say how exposure to the virus occurred.
The hospital had treated Thomas Eric Duncan, a Liberian man who died last Wednesday. Duncan was believed to have been infected with Ebola before he left Liberia and boarded a plane to visit family in Texas.
The latest case underlines United Nations fears and growing concerns in the United States about Ebola, for which there is no vaccine or widely available treatment.
Passengers from Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone arriving at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York will have their temperatures taken and be screened for signs of illness and answer questions about possible exposure, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.
“Exit screening might not find every person with Ebola, however, it does not have to be perfect to help reduce the spread of Ebola,” it said.
Four other major US airports are due to start similar checks.
The CDC has predicted the number of cases globally could mount in a worst-case scenario to 1.4 million by January, unless strong measures are taken to contain the disease.
In Spain, attention remained focused on 44-year-old Teresa Romero, the Madrid nurse who became the first person to get infected with Ebola outside of Africa.
Her condition had “improved in the night. She is conscious and talks from time to time when she is in a good mood,” a hospital source told reporters.
Romero’s brother confirmed that his sister was improving.
“She no longer has a fever, it appears that while remaining seriously ill she’s getting better and moving forward, She’s still in a serious but stable condition and this gives us hope,” Jose-Ramon Romero told television channel La Sexta.
Teresa Romero is thought to have contracted the disease in late September in a Madrid hospital while caring for a Spanish missionary infected with Ebola in Africa who later died.
Fifteen other people, mostly hospital staff as well as Romero’s husband, are under observation at the Carlos III hospital where Romero is being treated. The hospital said none was showing any symptoms.
The WHO reported 4,033 people had died from Ebola as of October 8 out of a total of 8,399 registered cases in seven countries.
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