Craig Spencer, New York Doctor, Tests Positive For Ebola
Craig Spencer, a New York doctor who was treating Ebola patients in West Africa, tested positive for Ebola at Manhattan’s Bellevue Hospital on Thursday.
NYC Doctor Has Ebola
Spencer, 33, had been working with Doctors Without Borders in Guinea since mid-September, leaving on Oct. 12 and arriving at JFK airport October 17. The physician reportedly felt sluggish on Tuesday, but did not have a fever. On Wednesday, he apparently headed to a Brooklyn bowling alley. Thursday morning, he was feverish and sought medical attention at Bellevue Hospital Center. By evening, Spencer had tested positive for Ebola, reported CNN.
New York City health commissioner Dr. Mary Travis Bassett has stated her belief that New Yorkers are not in danger of infection from riding the subways. Nor is it believed that people who visited the Brooklyn bowling alley are at risk. "At the time that the doctor was on the subway, he did not have fever … he was not symptomatic," Bassett said, adding that chances were "close to nil” that people who came into contact with him will develop Ebola symptoms.
Spencer resides in an apartment in Harlem with his fiancée. As a precaution, she and two of Spencer’s friends have been placed on quarantine and will be monitored. Spencer’s neighbors have been informed of his case and are being given information on the disease.
"What we're doing now is just telling the folks who live here in the neighborhood that they're safe. It's safe for them to be in their buildings, it's safe for them to go to their apartments, it's safe for them to walk down the street," said Sam Miller, associate commissioner of the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.
In order to help with Spencer’s case, The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has dispatched a team to New York City, according to USA Today.
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