Another US healthcare worker has been found to be infected with EBOLA virus. The Texas nurse is the second confirmed patient in the United States. As a 2014 update for EBOLA outbreak, health officials are currently seeking 132 commercial jet passengers who flew with the patient a day before she came down with the virus' symptoms.
According to CNN, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Tom Frieden said that the Texas nurse, who had helped care for EBOLA patient Thomas Eric Duncan, was not allowed to travel on a commercial jet with other people since other healthcare personnel who had treated Duncan had been diagnosed with the virus. The new case is the latest update on the outbreak this 2014.
Based on a New York Times report, federal health officials said Wednesday that the second healthcare staff at the Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas has tested positive for EBOLA. The new patient was found to be infected by the virus three days after a nurse who treated Duncan was confirmed positive with the disease.
As an update, the hospital personnel identified as Amber Vinson, 29, was part of the medical team that cared for the EBOLA victim Duncan after he was admitted to the hospital late last month. Vinson and another EBOLA-positive Texas nurse Nina Pham, 26, were on the same team. This 2014, EBOLA outbreak has reportedly killed over 4,000 people.
On Tuesday, Vinson reported a fever and was immediately put in isolation at the hospital. Preliminary tests were conducted by the laboratory for the Texas Department of State Health Services in Austin and by midnight, the results were received. The CDC performed additional tests to confirm the positive EBOLA result. The state health agency said in a statement that healthcare workers are being interviewed by officials to identify anyone else who might have been exposed.
On the other hand, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that they are seeking the passengers of Frontier Airlines Flight 1143 from Cleveland, Ohio to Dallas, Texas on Oct. 13. The officials wanted to interview the passengers from the commercial jet, as per BBC News.
Frontier Airlines said through a statement that the plane remained in Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport overnight and was cleaned there and later again in Cleveland. Plane crews said that the woman had shown no signs of illness while on the flight.
The new EBOLA case in the US has sparked fears for a possible outbreak. In the latest 2014 update, the UN's Ebola mission chief said the world is tumbling behind in the fight to control the deadly virus, which has infected thousands in West Africa.
Meanwhile, CDC Director Frieden said healthcare personnel who had been exposed to Duncan were self-monitoring. He also emphasized that they were allowed to travel but not on a commercial plane with other people. He then added the CDC will guarantee that no one else in such situation travels outside a closed environment.
As an update for the latest EBOLA outbreak cases this 2014, the newly confirmed positive EBOLA patient will be transferred from the Dallas hospital to Emory University Hospital in Atlanta, which has successfully treated two other patients. The facility is now treating its third male healthcare worker who was infected in Sierra Leone.
In line with the outbreak, Frieden also gave an update regarding the two US EBOLA cases. Vinson is sick but clinically stable, he said, while Nina Pham is in improved condition. It has not been determined whether she will be transferred to another facility as well. Frieden also told reporters in a conference call that both Dallas healthcare personnel had an extensive contact with Duncan this 2014.
Since there has been increasing EBOLA concerns, US President Obama canceled his New Jersey and Connecticut trips on Wednesday to arrange a meeting at the White House of Cabinet agencies managing the government's response to the outbreak's updates this 2014.
Because of the new cases, Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital is facing further uncertainties on its capacity to handle the virus and protect employees. But hospital officials deny institutional problems.
"I don't think we have a systematic institutional problem," Texas Health Resources Chief Clinical Officer Dr. Daniel Varga said Wednesday, while facing questions about the hospital's actions.
While the Texas hospital deals with its third EBOLA patient, the outbreak in West Africa is getting increasingly dreadful. The World Health Organization updated Wednesday that a total of 4,493 people are confirmed to have died from the deadly virus this 2014 from Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Spain and the US.
WHO also warned that because of the recent updates on the cases, there could be 10,000 new EBOLA victims per week by the end of 2014 in West Africa as the outbreak continues to spread. So, this is a reminder of the danger EBOLA can bring which may threaten some of the best and equipped healthcare infrastructures in the world.
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