CDC Confirms Patient In Dallas Has Ebola Virus

[voiceofreason]

http://dfw.cbslocal.com/2014/09/30/cdc-confirms-patient-in-dallas-has-the-ebola-virus/

CDC Confirms Patient In Dallas Has Ebola Virus
Updated: October 1, 2014 8:43 AM

DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) – Officials with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have confirmed that a person in Dallas definitely has the Ebola virus. Tuesday’s official determination makes the patient, now isolated at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas, the first diagnosed Ebola case in the United States.

Officials with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Texas Department of State Health Services, Presbyterian Hospital and Dallas County Health and Human Services all participated in a Tuesday afternoon press conference. CDC Director Thomas Frieden related the information that the individual who tested positive had traveled to Liberia. The person left Liberia on September 19 and arrived in the United States on September 20 with no virus symptoms. Frieden said that it was four or five days later that the patient, who is believed to be male, began developing symptoms and was ultimately admitted to Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas on Sunday, September 28.

Ebola Patient’s Arrival In North Texas

“We received in our laboratory today specimens from the individual, tested them, and they tested positive for Ebola,” Frieden stated. “The State of Texas also operates a laboratory that found the same results.” After the confirmation statement, Frieden went on to stress that the testing for Ebola is very accurate, saying that it is a PCR test of blood.

As far as the medical condition of the infected patient, Frieden said that he “is critically ill at this point.” Presbyterian Hospital would not confirm the condition of the individual, citing the patient’s right to privacy. CBS 11 News learned late Tuesday evening that the man is communicating with health workers and telling them when he is hungry.

The patient is in a special isolation section of the Intensive Care Unit and is being watched through glass walls. Officials said that an important part of his treatment is making sure that he is well hydrated.

An Exclusive Look Inside Isolation Rooms

After confirmation of the virus, the City of Dallas was put on Level 2: High Readiness. The city is now working closely with DCHHS and the CDC.

 

[voiceofreason]

http://dfw.cbslocal.com/2014/10/02/texas-orders-family-of-ebola-patient-to-stay-home/

Texas Orders Family Of Ebola Patient To Stay Home
October 2, 2014 6:45 AM

DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) – The state of Texas and Dallas County health officials have ordered four close family members of a Dallas Ebola patient to stay home and not have visitors to prevent spreading the deadly disease.

If ignored, a violation could result in criminal charges.

Officials made the announcement on Thursday, saying the order is out of an “abundance of caution”.

“We have tried and true protocols to protect the public and stop the spread of this disease,” said Dr. David Lakey, Texas health commissioner. “This order gives us the ability to monitor the situation in the most meticulous way.”

Thomas Eric Duncan, who has been identified as the patient, had been staying at The Ivy apartments in northeast Dallas. Residents of the complex are concerned by the lack of information provided to them by health officials.

Doctors at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas have acknowledged that there was a communication mix-up when Duncan initially sought medical care on Sept. 25. Despite telling health officials that he was traveling from Liberia, he was sent home. Officials say the information was not communicated and factored into the decision-making process.

 

[voiceofreason]

http://www.wfaa.com/story/news/heal...o-hospital-staff-he-was-from-africa/16539009/

Hospital sent Ebola-infected patient home
6:50 a.m. CDT October 2, 2014

Thomas Eric Duncan went to a Dallas emergency room on Thursday and was sent home with antibiotics after he told hospital employees he was visiting from Liberia.

The man left Liberia on Sept. 19, flying from Brussels to Dulles Airport near Washington. He then boarded a flight for Dallas-Fort Worth, according to airlines, and arrived the next day to see relatives.

 

[The Bobster]

http://www.myfoxphilly.com/story/26693778/nbc-cameraman-tests-positive-for-ebola-in-liberia

NBC cameraman tests positive for Ebola in Liberia
By DAVID BAUDER
AP Television Writer

NEW YORK (AP) - An American cameraman helping to cover the Ebola outbreak in Liberia for NBC News has tested positive for the virus and will be flown back to the United States for treatment.

NBC News President Deborah Turness said Thursday the rest of the NBC News crew including medical correspondent Dr. Nazi Snyderman will be flown back to the U.S. and placed in quarantine for 21 days "in an abundance of caution."

NBC identified the freelance cameraman on its website as 33-year-old Ashoka Mukpo. He has been working in Liberia for three years for Vice News and other media outlets, and has been covering the Ebola epidemic, according to the network. He began shooting for NBC on Tuesday.

He began feeling tired and achy Wednesday and discovered he had a slight fever. He went to a treatment center Thursday to be tested, and is being kept there, said Snyderman, who was interviewed Thursday night on "The Rachel Maddow Show" on MSNBC.

Snyderman said she believes Mukpo's exposure to the virus happened sometime before he started working with the NBC crew, since it is usually eight to 10 days before the first symptoms are seen.

"The good news is this young man, our colleague, was admitted to the clinic very, very early," she said. "I spoke with him today. He's in good spirits. He's ready to get home - of course, appropriately concerned. But he will be airlifted out soon."

She said that neither she nor the other three NBC employees has shown any symptoms or warning signs of Ebola infection.

"We observe the custom now, which is to not shake hands, to not embrace people, to wash our hands with diluted bleach water before we enter the hotel," she said. "We dip our feet in bleach solution."

She said she and the rest of her crew present little chance of giving it to anyone, unless they get sick.

"We will be taking our temperatures twice a day, checking in with each other, and if any one of us suddenly spikes a fever or gets symptoms, we will report ourselves to the authorities," she said. "We are taking it seriously."

 

[The Bobster]

http://nypost.com/2014/10/03/armed-guards-blocking-family-exposed-to-ebola-from-leaving-dallas-home/

Ebola family under armed guard after trying to leave quarantine
By Associated Press
October 3, 2014 | 10:03am

A woman who has been confined to her Dallas apartment under armed guard after a man infected with Ebola stayed at her home said she never imagined this could happen to her so far from disease-ravaged West Africa.

Louise Troh said Thursday that she is tired of being locked up and wants health authorities to decontaminate her home.

Authorities say the circle of people in the US possibly exposed to Ebola widened after the man, who arrived from Liberia last month, was discharged from a hospital without being tested for the deadly virus.

The confinement order, which also bans visitors, was imposed after the family failed to comply with a request to stay home, according to Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins. Texas Health Commissioner David Lakey said the order would ensure that Troh, her 13-year-old son and two nephews can be closely monitored for signs of the disease.

The first Ebola diagnosis in the nation has raised concerns about whether the disease that has killed 3,300 people in West Africa could spread in the US. Federal health officials say they are confident they can keep it in check.

Troh said she had imagined she would be safe from the grasp of the virus thousands of miles from her native Liberia, the worst-hit country.

“No one thinks this will happen,” she said in an interview with the Associated Press. She said she and her family are “stressed” about being confined to their home.

“Who wants to be locked up?” she said. Private security guards and sheriff’s deputies blocked the entrance to the 300-unit apartment complex to dozens of reporters.

Troh was waiting for health officials to collect the bedsheets and towels that Thomas Eric Duncan used when he stayed at her home before his Ebola diagnosis.

A hazardous materials crew arrived to decontaminate the apartment Thursday evening but didn’t have the required permits to clean and remove hazardous waste, city spokesman Richard Hill said. The crew, contracted by the county and state, was to return Friday to complete the job. The family must be relocated before the cleanup can begin, Hill said.

“The challenges are real,” Dr. Tom Frieden, director of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said Friday on ABC’s “Good Morning America” when asked about Troh’s situation. But, he said, “I am confident that we will get it sorted out today.”

He was asked on NBC’s “Today” show why the apartment wasn’t immediately cleaned.

The Ivy Apartments, where Duncan stayed in Dallas and where four people have been quarantined inside their home
Photo: EPA


“The details of that you’d have to refer to the folks in Dallas,” Frieden said Friday. “But this is, after all, the first time we’ve ever had a case of Ebola in the US and there are issues to make sure that when things are removed, that it is not going to be disposed of in any way that could potentially be a risk.”

Texas health officials expanded their efforts to contain the virus, reaching out to as many as 100 people who may have had direct contact with Duncan or someone close to him.

None has shown symptoms, but they have been told to notify medical workers if they feel ill, said Erikka Neroes, a spokeswoman for the Dallas County Health and Human Services agency.

The at-risk group includes 12 to 18 people who had direct contact with the infected man, including an ambulance crew and a handful of schoolchildren, she said. The others came into contact with that core group.

“This is a big spider web” of people, Neroes said.

The virus that causes Ebola is not airborne and can only be spread through direct contact with the bodily fluids — blood, sweat, vomit, feces, urine, saliva or semen — of an infected person who is showing symptoms. Those fluids must also have an entry point.

Ebola dried on surfaces can survive for several hours, according to the CDC. For example, people might get infected by handling soiled clothing or bedsheets and then touching their mouth, or if they are not wearing gloves while doing those tasks and have a cut on their hand.

A quarantined resident holds up a thermometer to the window of their apartment.
Photo: Reuters


Duncan’s neighbors in the Liberian capital believe he became infected when he helped a sick pregnant neighbor a few weeks ago. It was not clear if he had learned of the woman’s diagnosis before traveling.

Nonetheless, Liberian authorities announced plans to prosecute Duncan when he returns, accusing him of lying about not having any contact with an infected person.

Duncan filled out a form Sept. 19 about his health and activities before leaving for Dallas. Among the questions on the form, obtained by the Associated Press, one asked whether Duncan had cared for an Ebola patient or touched the body of anyone who had died in an area affected by Ebola. He answered no to all the questions.

Nowa Paye, 9, is taken to an ambulance after showing signs of Ebola infection in the village of Freeman Reserve, about 30 miles north of Monrovia, Liberia, on Sept. 30.
Photo: AP Photo/Jerome Delay


“We expect people to do the honorable thing ,” said Binyah Kesselly, chairman of the board of directors of the Liberia Airport Authority in Monrovia.

A health worker checks the temperature of a baby entering Mali from Guinea.
Photo: Reuters


Frieden on Friday dismissed suggestions that people traveling from West Africa should not be allowed into the US.

A health worker leaves a wheelbarrow with a woman suspected of suffering from Ebola outside a treatment center in Monrovia.
Photo: Getty Images


“The fact is that if we tried to seal the border, it would not work because people are allowed to travel,” he said on “Good Morning America.” ”It would backfire because it would make it harder to stop the outbreak.”

Duncan arrived in Dallas on Sept. 20 and fell ill a few days later. An emergency room sent Duncan home last week, even though he told a nurse he had been in West Africa.

In a statement emailed late Thursday, the Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital said it followed communicable disease protocols by asking Duncan if he had come into contact with anyone who was ill, to which he replied he had not. His symptoms included a temperature of 100.1 F, abdominal pain, a headache and decreased urination, the hospital said. He said he had no nausea, vomiting or diarrhea, and, based on that, the hospital decided to release him.

He returned to the hospital two days later and has been kept in isolation there since Sunday. He was listed Thursday in serious but stable condition.

Also late Thursday, NBC News reported that an American freelance cameraman working for the network in Liberia has tested positive for the virus and will be flown back to the United States along with the rest of the NBC News crew.

Liberia is one of the three countries hit hardest in the epidemic, along with Sierra Leone and Guinea.

 

[The Bobster]

http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/20...d-over-ebola-is-u-of-p-alumna-and-consultant/

Dr. Nancy Snyderman, Quarantined Over Ebola, is U. of P. Alumna and Consultant
October 3, 2014 12:43 PM
By Pat Loeb

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — NBC’s chief medical correspondent/government shill, Dr. Nazi Snyderman, has an association with the University of Pennsylvania but she won’t be flying back here to spend her 21 days in quarantine after a member of her camera crew in Liberia tested positive for Ebola.

Snyderman is an alumna of Penn’s School of Medicine, and holds an appointment as a “clinical associate” of otorhinolaryngology, which means she’s a resource to Penn doctors who do head and neck surgery but doesn’t see patients.

She lives in San Francisco, which is likely where she’ll self-quarantine , which means limiting contact with others inside the home and watching for symptoms.

That’s different from “isolation,” when people who actually have the disease are put in special units for treatment.

NBC was not releasing specific details. They say they’re focused on getting their people out safely. Snyderman has said she’s confident she isn’t infected.

Mark Ross, of the Hospital and Health System Association of Pennsylvania, says the region is prepared in the event an Ebola case should show up here.

“Our hospitals are prepared to deal with infectious diseases,” he notes. “They have isolation protocols, they have personal protective equipment for the staff. They have routine infection control practices that, according to CDC, will work for Ebola.”

Ross says local hospitals stay up on all the latest guidance for identification and treatment of ebola.

 

[voiceofreason]

http://dfw.cbslocal.com/2014/10/03/ebola-carrier-wanted-to-start-new-life-in-u-s-with-fiancee/

Ebola Carrier Wanted To Start New Life In U.S. With Fiancée
October 3, 2014 7:10 PM

DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) – The pastor of Wilshire Baptist Church, where Ebola patient Thomas Duncan’s girlfriend is a member, said he came to Dallas to marry her.

Associate pastor Mark Wingfield said Duncan’s girlfriend, Louise Troh was baptized at the church in June. She’s an active member of the adult bible study.

The Sr. Pastor spoke to Louise by phone not long ago. During the conversation, she explained to him that Duncan had come to the United States so they could start their new life together in America. She told him they had yet to set a date before he fell ill with the deadly virus.

http://gotnews.com/tag/louise-troh/

Why Did #Ebola Patient Buy A Round Trip Ticket If He Came to US to Marry Girlfriend?

October 3, 2014

If Thomas Eric Duncan planned to marry his girlfriend and start a new life in America why did he buy a round trip ticket?

Bloomberg News is reporting that the pastor of the church that Duncan girlfriend Louise Troh frequented says the two love birds were going to get to get married.

But Gotnew.com 34 Comments this week that Duncan’s return flight was scheduled to depart Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) on Oct. 19. The return flight was scheduled for DFW-IAD-BRU-FNA (FNA is Lungi Intl Airport in Freetown, Sierra Leone).

Liberia has the fifth highest number of overstays of any country in the world.


Report: Medical Crews Let #Ebola Man’s Stepdaughter Go To Store…

Youngor Jallah went to the store after being exposed to Ebola…


October 3, 2014

 

[voiceofreason]

http://dfw.cbslocal.com/2014/10/04/dallas-ebola-patient-condition-now-critical/

Dallas Ebola Patient Condition Now Critical
October 4, 2014 1:59 PM

DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM/AP) - Dallas Ebola patient Thomas Eric Duncan is now in critical condition according to Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas. He had been listed in serious condition on Friday.

Candace White, a spokeswoman for Texas Health Resources, which operates the hospital in Dallas where Duncan is being treated, issued a six-word news release saying, “Mr. Duncan is in critical condition.”

 

[The Bobster]

http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2014/10/05/child-tested-for-possible-ebola-in-delaware/

Child Tested For Possible Ebola In Delaware
October 5, 2014 9:30 PM

DOVER, Del. (CBS) – Officials at Bayhealth Kent General Hospital in Delaware say a child was brought to their emergency department over the weekend and was tested for the Ebola virus.

Officials say the child, who is from Liberia, was brought in on Saturday and was given an assessment from the staff following the CDC guidelines for identifying suspected cases of Ebola.

It was determined by the CDC the likelihood the child has Ebola was low , so the CDC decided not to test the child after they were notified.

Officials say the child will continue to be observed in the hospital until it is determined they can be released.

 

[voiceofreason]

http://dfw.cbslocal.com/2014/10/07/jesse-jackson-to-discuss-ebola-in-south-dallas/

Jesse Jackson To Discuss Ebola In South Dallas
October 7, 2014 6:05 AM

Rev Jesse Jackson Sr @RevJJackson
Follow

Upon request of family of #ThomasEricDuncan, going to #Dallas to bring comfort& to seek best humanitarian relief America has to offer. #Tues
5:46 PM - 6 Oct 2014
33 Retweets 18 favorites

 

[The Bobster]

http://nypost.com/2014/10/07/astorino-ban-flights-to-nyc-from-nations-with-ebola-outbreaks/

Astorino: Ban flights to NYC from nations with Ebola outbreaks
By Carl Campanile
October 7, 2014 | 11:01am

Rob Astorino
Photo: Splash News


The US should ban flights to New York from nations with Ebola outbreaks to help stem the spread of the deadly Ebola virus, Republican gubernatorial Rob Astorino said Tuesday.

Astorino said the Obama administration should order the Federal Aviation Administration to bar international fights from stricken West African countries — including Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone — to JFK, LaGuardia and Newark.

“Experts tell us that Ebola must be contained in West Africa, yet flights continue to leave that region daily bound for the United States — bound for New York region airports,” Astorino said.

“It makes no sense: A victim clings to life in Dallas today after boarding a flight from West Africa. He fibbed on a paper form, and that was enough to get him on a flight here.”

Astorino said screening protocols conducted by local governments in affected West African nations are faulty and inadequate.

“We are being told by health experts that there will almost certainly be other Ebola victims arriving, yet air travel from countries in West Africa to New York continues with inadequate safeguards in place. Not to put too fine a point on it, but that’s madness,” the Westchester County executive said.

Astorino said he’s not convinced that stricter airport health screenings are fool-proof.

“I therefore call on the FAA today to halt air travel to New York area airports until proper protocols are in place — protocols that can guarantee the safety of New Yorkers and other Americans,” he said.

He admitted a travel ban to New York airports is not a perfect solution because visitors can travel here from Canada or other nations.

“But New York and the federal government have an obligation to do what they can — to do what’s in their power — to mitigate against harm. God help us if Ebola comes to New York because we didn’t want to offend,” he said.“If we err here, it must be on the side of caution.”

 

[The Bobster]

http://nypost.com/2014/10/08/sierra-leone-strike-over-hazard-pay-halts-burial-of-ebola-dead/

Ebola corpses litter streets after burial teams go on strike
By Associated Press
October 8, 2014 | 9:58am

FREETOWN, Sierra Leone — Burial teams in Sierra Leone abandoned the dead bodies of Ebola victims in the capital after going on strike this week, though an official claimed Wednesday the situation had been “resolved.”

Burial team in Waterloo, Sierra Leone.
Photo: Getty Images


In neighboring Liberia, health workers said they planned to strike if their demands for more money and safety equipment were not met by the end of the week.

The Sierra Leone Broadcasting Corporation reported that bodies of Ebola victims were being left in homes and on the streets of Freetown because of the strike by burial teams, who complained they had not been paid. The dead bodies of Ebola victims are highly contagious.

Speaking on a radio breakfast program Wednesday, deputy health minister Madina Rahman said the strike had been “resolved,” though organizers could not immediately be reached to confirm it was over.

Rahman said the dispute centered on a one-week backlog for hazard pay that had been deposited in the bank but was not given to burial teams on time.

“The health ministry is going to investigate the delay in the health workers not receiving their money,” Rahman said.

The burial teams make up a total of 600 workers organized in groups of 12, health ministry spokesman Sidie Yahya Tunis said.

Tunis described the situation as “very embarrassing.” The government was already facing criticism this week over a shipping container filled with medical gear and mattresses that has been held up at the port for more than a month.

The World Health Organization says Ebola is believed to have killed more than 600 people in Sierra Leone, where there have been more than 2,100 confirmed cases. More than 3,400 people have been killed by the outbreak in West Africa, which has hit Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia hardest.

In Liberia, health workers are demanding monthly salaries of $700 as well as personal protective equipment to be distributed to health centers across the country, said George Williams, secretary-general of the National Health Workers Association.

“We give the government up to the weekend to address all these or else we will stop work,” Williams said. “We will pack our tools and leave.”

The average health worker salary is currently below $500. Finance Minister Amara Konneh has defended the compensation for health workers, saying last week that it was more than Sierra Leone and Guinea were offering.

Health workers are especially vulnerable to Ebola, which is spread by contact with the bodily fluids of infected people. Williams said more than 100 health workers had died responding to the outbreak in Liberia.

Liberia’s United Nations peacekeeping mission said Wednesday that an international member of its medical team had contracted Ebola, the second member of the mission to come down with the disease. The first died on Sept. 25.

The mission is identifying and isolating others who may have been exposed and reviewing procedures to mitigate risk, Karin Landgren, special representative of U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, said in a statement.

In Spain, officials said Wednesday that a nurse and a nursing assistant have been placed under observation for Ebola in a Madrid hospital where a colleague became infected after working with two Spanish missionary priests who contracted the disease in West Africa and later died at the center. It was not known whether the two also treated the two priests or the infected colleague.

The infected nursing assistant is the first person known to have caught the disease outside the outbreak zone in West Africa during the current epidemic. She was said to be in stable condition Wednesday.

In an interview published by Spain’s El Mundo newspaper, the woman said she followed safety protocols as part of the team treating the priests and had no idea how she contracted the virus.

She said by telephone from quarantine she felt “better, a little bit better” since being hospitalized on Monday at the specially equipped Carlos III hospital in Madrid designated for treatment of Ebola patients.

Her husband, Javier Limon, is also quarantined at the hospital. He identified his wife as Teresa Romero in a video of himself that he sent to Spain’s Animal Rights Party pleading for people to support his drive to prevent Spanish authorities from euthanizing the couple’s dog, a mixed breed named Excalibur.

Limon told El Mundo by telephone that his wife went on vacation after Spanish missionary Manuel Garcia Viejo died at Carlos III. She started feeling sick with a low fever Sept. 30 but did go to a career advancement exam attended by other candidates, Limon said. Health authorities have said she did not leave the Madrid area during her vacation.

Romero was required to help care for the first Spanish priest who died from Ebola in August but volunteered to help care for Garcia Viejo, Limon said.

Dozens of animal rights activists outside the couple’s apartment complex Wednesday morning scuffled with police, trying to prevent an ambulance and workers in white hazmat suits from entering to disinfect the couple’s apartment and take away Excalibur.

Madrid regional’s government obtained a court order Tuesday to euthanize the dog, saying “available scientific information” cannot rule out the possibility that Excalibur could spread the virus.

Two other people quarantined in Madrid, a nurse and a Spanish engineer who had traveled to Nigeria, were cleared Wednesday to check out of Carlos III hospital after testing negative for the Ebola.

Spanish authorities are investigating how the nursing assistant became infected. They are also monitoring some 50 people who came into contact with her or also tended the two priests who died.

Health authorities in Madrid have faced accusations of not following protocol and poorly preparing health care workers for dealing with Ebola.

Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy defended Spain’s health care system in Parliament on Wednesday, saying it is “one of the best in the world,” and urged critics to “let the health care workers who have a proven reputation do their work.”

 

[The Bobster]

http://nypost.com/2014/10/08/dallas-ebola-patient-dead/

Ebola claims first victim in America as Texas patient dies
By Associated Press
October 8, 2014 | 11:25am

Thomas Eric Duncan
Photo: Facebook


DALLAS — A Dallas hospital spokesman says the first Ebola patient diagnosed in the United States has died.

Wendell Watson of Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital says Thomas Eric Duncan died Wednesday morning.

Duncan arrived in Dallas Sept. 20 from Liberia and fell ill a few days later. He was sent home after an initial visit to the emergency room, but taken back to the hospital Sept. 28 and has been kept in isolation ever since.

Others in Dallas could be in danger as officials try to contain the virus that has ravaged West Africa, killing thousands of people. Officials say 10 people had direct contact with Duncan while he was contagious.

 

[vorlos]

http://voxday.blogspot.com/search?q=ebola+suits

From ZEROHEDGE: Now that Ebola is officially in the US on an uncontrolled basis, the two questions on everyone's lips are i) who will get sick next and ii) how bad could it get? We don't know the answer to question #1 just yet, but when it comes to the second one, a press release three weeks ago from Lakeland Industries, a manufacturer and seller of a "comprehensive line of safety garments and accessories for the industrial protective clothing market" may provide some insight into just how bad the US State Department thinks it may get.

Because when the US government buys 160,000 hazmat suits specifically designed against Ebola, just ahead of the worst Ebola epidemic in history making US landfall, one wonders: what do they know that we don't?

And then there is this from the CDC: "Because we still do not know exactly how people are infected with Ebola, few primary prevention measures have been established and no vaccine exists."

UPDATE: The magic of diversity and geographical translocation in action.

Two days after he was sent home from a Dallas hospital, the man who is the first person to be diagnosed with Ebola in the United States was seen vomiting on the ground outside an apartment complex as he was bundled into an ambulance. “His whole family was screaming. He got outside and he was throwing up all over the place,” resident Mesud Osmanovic, 21, said on Wednesday, describing the chaotic scene before the man was admitted to Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital on Sunday where he is in serious condition.

 

[vorlos]

http://dfw.cbslocal.com/?lead=frisco-patient-exhibiting-ebola-symptoms

Dallas County Sheriff’s Deputy Exhibiting Ebola Symptoms

FRISCO (CSBDFW.COM) - An afternoon news conference has been called in Frisco, a suburb of Dallas, to discuss a possible second case of Ebola.

According to a statement from the City of Frisco, the patient claims to have had contact with Thomas Eric Duncan, referred to as Dallas ‘patient zero.’
The Frisco patient has been identified as a Dallas County deputy Michael Monnig, who was not one of the 48 people being monitored by federal, state and local health officials because he never had direct contact with the patient. Monnig did enter the apartment where Duncan stayed after Duncan had been admitted to the hospital.

Complete Coverage Of Ebola In Dallas

The call came in shortly after noon from Care Now, 301 W. Main Street, where the patient was “exhibiting signs and symptoms of Ebola.”

CBS 11 has confirmed with Care Now that the facility is in contact with the Centers for Disease Control and is holding everyone in the facility until receiving clearance from the CDC. The patient has been transported to Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital by Frisco firefighter-paramedics, the same hospital where Duncan, the first patient to be diagnosed with the virus on American soil, was admitted. Duncan died earlier today, after spending more than 10 days in isolation at that hospital.

Texas Health Presbyterian Dallas confirmed the patient’s arrival to the Emergency Room in statement, which reads in part, “Right now, there are more questions than answers about this case. Our professional staff of nurses and doctors is prepared to examine the patient, discuss any findings with appropriate agencies and officials. We are on alert with precautions and systems in place.” The hospital is still admitting and caring for other patients at this time.

WATCH LIVE: Ambulance Transport of Possible Frisco Ebola Patient
The Dallas County Sheriff’s Office said the deputy “expressed concern and we directed that deputy to the Dallas County Health & Human Services for care.” According to CBS 11’s Andrea Lucia, Monnig’s children said he woke up this morning feeling sore and a little nauseated. He went to clinic as a precaution. Other sources say Monnig was complaining of “stomach issues.”
Meanwhile, first responders are also examining clinical staff and other patients at the Care Now facility. It is unknown how many other people may have been exposed to the patient.
The news conference will be held at 3:30 pm at Frisco’s Central Fire Station. CBSDFW will stream it live.

 

[voiceofreason]

http://dfw.cbslocal.com/2014/10/09/dallas-county-deputy-awaits-ebola-test-results/

Dallas County Deputy Awaits Ebola Test Results
October 9, 2014 6:18 AM

DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - Just hours after the death of Thomas Duncan, the first person diagnosed with the Ebola virus in the United States, a deputy with the Dallas County Sheriff’s Department was rushed to Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas on Wednesday with some similar Ebola symptoms.

Michael Monnig is now in isolation at the hospital, waiting for test results to confirm whether or not he too has the Ebola virus. Those results may not arrive for another two days.

The deputy started feeling ill on Wednesday morning, just a few days after becoming involved with Duncan. Monnig had no direct contact with the first Ebola patient, but he was at the apartment unit where Duncan had stayed prior to being admitted to the hospital. Monnig served a quarantine order to Duncan’s family.

 

[The Bobster]

http://nypost.com/2014/10/11/brooklyn-teen-hospitalized-with-ebola-like-symptoms/

Brooklyn teen hospitalized with Ebola-like symptoms
By Matt McNulty
October 11, 2014 | 1:50am

A teen who had recently returned home to Brooklyn following a trip to Sudan was rushed to the hospital with Ebola-like symptoms on Friday night, authorities said.

The 14-year old boy fell unconscious with a fiery fever in the Bergen Beach apartment he shared with his family around 6:30 p.m. after a two-week trip to the Sudan in North Africa, officials said.

The teen was rushed to nearby Brookdale Hospital just before 7:30 p.m., when he was isolated and quarantined by hospital staff as doctors began tests to determine whether the teen has Ebola or not.

Sources told The Post the boy may have lied on a sheet all travelers are required to fill out following trips to infected regions.

The teen had not officially been diagnosed with Ebola as of Saturday morning.

The news comes on the heels of the death of Thomas Eric Duncan, a Liberian man who died from the virus days after returning to the US from Africa.

 

[voiceofreason]

http://dfw.cbslocal.com/2014/10/12/...las-ebola-patient-tests-positive-for-disease/

Worker Who Cared For Dallas Ebola Patient Tests Positive For Disease
October 12, 2014 6:07 AM

DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - A health care worker at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital who provided care for the Ebola patient hospitalized there has tested positive for Ebola in a preliminary test at the state public health laboratory in Austin. Confirmatory testing will be conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.

 

[The Bobster]

http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news...ts-Positive-for-Ebola-Hospital-278932951.html

Dallas Health Care Worker Tests Positive for Ebola: Hospital
Sunday, Oct 12, 2014 • Updated at 10:26 AM EDT

A health care worker at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas who provided care for Thomas Eric Duncan, the Ebola patient who died there earlier this week, is in isolation after testing positive for Ebola in a preliminary test at the state public health laboratory in Austin.

"While this is bad news, this is not news that should bring about panic ," Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins said Sunday.

Another test to confirm the diagnosis will be conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services. The worker is in stable condition.

Jenkins said the unidentified health care worker is a "heroic" person who "was proud to provide care to Mr. Duncan." He said the health care worker's family has requested privacy because they are "going through a great ordeal."

The state health department said the worker reported a low grade fever Friday night and was isolated at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas and the preliminary test result was received late Saturday.

"The entire process from patient's self-monitoring to the admission into isolation took less than 90 minutes," Dr. Daniel Varga with Texas Health Presbyterian Dallas said at a news conference Sunday morning.

Texas Health Presbyterian Dallas said a close contact of the health care worker has already proactively been put into isolation at the hospital. The 24-bed Intensive Care Unit at the hospital is being used as an isolation unit.

Mayor Mike Rawlings said the health care worker lives in an apartment complex in the 3700 block of Marquita Avenue in Dallas.

Rawlings said Dallas-Fire Rescue crews have cleaned and decontaminated open areas of the complex.

A reverse 911 call went out at 7:15 a.m. Sunday to alert neighbors. Rawlings also said materials about the virus were placed on peoples' doors in the area.

Rawlings said there is a pet inside the apartment and that they "have a plan to take care of the pet."

The car the health care worker drove the hospital has been decontaminated and secured. Rawlings said everything the new patient touched has been decontaminated to ensure everyone's safety.

Texas Department of State Health Services said "contact tracing" has begun. Health officials interviewed the health care worker and are identifying any other contacts or potential exposures.

Texas Health Presbyterian Dallas said the health care worker was involved in Duncan's care on his second visit to the hospital. Duncan, from Liberia, was the first person diagnosed with Ebola in the U.S. He died from the virus on Oct. 8.

The hospital said the worker followed all Centers for Disease Control protocols in caring for Duncan, including wearing gloves, gown, mask and shield.

Health care workers, among the 48 already being monitored, will be monitored twice daily, Jenkins said. Nineteen people are in charge of the monitoring, Jenkins said he asked for additional CDC help at midnight and workers had arrived in Dallas. None of the rest of the monitored people have shown symptoms of Ebola.

Ebola is spread through direct contact with bodily fluids of a sick person or exposure to contaminated objects such as needles. People are not contagious before symptoms such as fever develop.

"We knew a second case could be a reality, and we've been preparing for this possibility," said Texas health commissioner Dr. David Lakey. "We are broadening our team in Dallas and working with extreme diligence to prevent further spread."

Varga said the emergency department at Texas Health Presbyterian Dallas is on diversion, meaning ambulances will not bring new patients to the ER, but the hospital will continue to care for the patients at the hospital.

The second case of Ebola being diagnosed in the U.S. comes after officials stepped-up screening effort at New York's Kennedy International Airport meant to prevent the spread of the virus. Customs and health officials began taking the temperatures of passengers arriving at the airport from three West African countries on Saturday.

The screening will be expanded over the next week to four other airports: New Jersey's Newark Liberty, Washington Dulles, Chicago O'Hare and Hartsfield-Jackson in Atlanta.

 

[voiceofreason]

http://dfw.cbslocal.com/2014/10/13/louisiana-atty-general-tries-to-keep-texas-ebola-waste-out/

Louisiana Atty General Tries To Keep Texas Ebola Waste Out
October 13, 2014 7:37 AM

BATON ROUGE, La. (CBSDFW.COM) — Louisiana Attorney General Buddy Caldwell is seeking a temporary restraining order to block incinerated waste from a deceased Ebola patient from being disposed of in a Louisiana landfill.

Six truckloads of waste were reportedly brought to Port Arthur, Texas on Friday to be processed at the Veolia Environmental Services incinerator, according to Caldwell’s office. The incinerated materials are scheduled to be transported to a hazardous waste landfill in Louisiana for final disposal.

“We certainly share sadness and compassion for those who have lost their lives and loved ones to this terrible virus, but the health and safety of our Louisiana citizens is our top priority,” said Caldwell. “There are too many unknowns at this point, and it is absurd to transport potentially hazardous Ebola waste across state lines. This situation is certainly unprecedented and we want to approach it with the utmost caution. We just can’t afford to take any risks when it comes to this deadly virus.”

The Attorney General’s Office is in the process of finalizing the restraining order application and expects to file it on Monday.

The state is also sending a demand letter to Texas state and federal officials, demanding additional information into the waste handling process.

Thomas Duncan, the first Ebola patient diagnosed in the United States, died on Wednesday morning at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas.