Ebola Virus Update: Second Dallas Hospital Worker Tests Positive
Ebola has struck a second health care worker in Dallas who’d been caring for the late Thomas Eric Duncan.
New Dallas Ebola Case
The unidentified woman reported feeling feverish on Tuesday and was put into isolation at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital. Her preliminary test for Ebola came back positive last night and she’ll undergo a second test by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta Wednesday.
"Health officials have interviewed the latest patient to quickly identify any contacts or potential exposures, and those people will be monitored," the health department said, according to CNN.
This latest Ebola case is the second one to be contracted within the United States, as well as the second one contracted within the Dallas hospital. The first person to contract Ebola was Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital nurse Nina Pham. Pham, like the most recent patient, had treated Duncan, who brought the virus into the U.S. from Liberia.
"I don't think we have a systematic institutional problem," Dr. Daniel Varga, chief clinical officer of Texas Health Resources, told reporters Wednesday. He added that hospital personnel "may have done some things differently with the benefit of what we know today," adding, “No one wants to get this right more than our hospital."
Varga further revealed that a total of 75 health care workers are being monitored for signs and symptoms of Ebola. Meanwhile, the CDC has sent a team to the hospital to improve upon its ability to safely care for Ebola patients.
The CDC reports that there have ben rougly 8,400 cases of Ebola worldwide during the current outbreak and more than 4,000 deaths. The World Health Organization warns that if the outbreak continues, there could be up to 10,000 new cases of Ebola a week.
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