A health worker at the hospital in Texas treating the first person diagnosed with Ebola in the US has tested positive for the deadly virus, raising new worries about the spread of the disease beyond West Africa.
The worker, believed to be a woman, at the Texas Health Presbyterian
Hospital had been wearing protective gear during treatment of the patient,
Thomas Eric Duncan, who died last week.
The woman reported a low-grade fever on Friday night and was isolated
and referred for testing.
"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 US 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.
criticised
"This individual was following full CDC precautions which are
barrier and droplet so gown, glove, mask and shield," said Dan Varga, the
hospital's chief clinical officer.
The hospital has been criticised for at first turning away Mr Duncan
when he first showed up on September 25, saying he had been in Liberia and had
a fever.
Two days after he was discharged he was taken back by ambulance and put
in an isolation unit.
The director of the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said
in an interview yesterday that there was probably a lapse in protocol at the
hospital that led to the health care worker being infected.
"We're deeply concerned about this new development," said Dr
Thomas Frieden. "I think the fact that we don't know of a breach in
protocol is concerning because clearly there was a breach in protocol."
Mr Duncan died in an isolation ward last Wednesday, 11 days after being
admitted, with more than 50 people attending to his care. His body had been
cremated.
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