CDC confirms patient in Dallas has the Ebola virus
DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) – Officials with the Centers for Disease Control have confirmed that a person in Dallas definitely has the Ebola virus. Tuesday’s official determination makes the Dallas patient the first diagnosed Ebola case in the United States.
[…]
Health officials said given the information that the unnamed patient had been in the West Africa area where the Ebola virus exists and the type of symptoms they were exhibiting, testing was being performed.
After the information was related to the CDC the health institute sent a team to North Texas just in case the patient was infected with Ebola.
[…]
Monday night Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas released the following statement:
“Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas has admitted a patient into strict isolation to be evaluated for potential Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) based on the patient’s symptoms and recent travel history. The hospital is following all Centers for Disease Control and Texas Department of Heath recommendations to ensure the safety of patients, hospital staff, volunteers, physicians and visitors. The CDC anticipates preliminary results tomorrow (Wednesday).”
Of course, since the patient was already in “strict isolation” officials at Presbyterian Hospital said that will continue.
On Monday night CBS 11 spoke with Dallas County Health and Human Services director Zachary Thompson, who stressed that there were certain procedures that would need to be followed if tests for the patient come back positive. “We [health professionals] all had been planning to look at what our next steps are if there is a confirmed case,” Thompson said. “Again, we have to do the public health follow up to see what contacts, where this individual has gone since they arrived here in Dallas. There are a number of things that have to be looked at.”
Before it was confirmed the patient definitely had the virus, Thompson spoke about the possibility of other North Texans being infected by the patient. “The key point is, if there’s been no transmission, blood, secretion, any type of bodily fluids by the infected person to someone else, then that [infection] risk is low to none.”
(Click here for the complete report from CBS-DFW)
