A healthcare worker at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in the U.S. has tested positive for Ebola after treating a Liberian patient hospitalised there.
A statement issued on Sunday by the Texas Department of State Health Services said the health worker, whose identity was not released, was isolated after reporting a low-grade fever on Friday night.
It said preliminary test results of the patient released on Saturday tested positive while confirmatory test was currently taking place at the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta.
Thomas Eric Duncan, a Liberian man who was the first patient to be diagnosed with Ebola in the U.S., died of the disease in the same hospital on Wednesday.
Duncan contracted the Ebola virus in Liberia, but did not begin to show symptoms of the disease until a few days after his arrival in Texas in September.
“We knew a second case could be a reality, and we’ve been preparing for this possibility,” Dr David Lakey, head of the Texas health department, said in the statement.
“We are broadening our team in Dallas and working with extreme diligence to prevent further spread,” he said.
Later at a news conference Dan Varga, a Texas medical official, said the healthcare worker at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital was wearing full protective gear.
Varga said the worker was self-monitoring for symptoms of Ebola when they recorded a slight fever and came to the hospital.
“The person was wearing protective gear prescribed by the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention when they were infected.
“We’re very concerned,” he said.
Meanwhile, Israel has announced that it would introduce screenings at its borders and at Ben Gurion International Airport in a bid to prevent Ebola patients from entering its territory.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said in a statement on Sunday that visitors from West Africa would have to answer a list of health-related questions upon arrival.
It added that any suspected carriers of the virus could be placed in quarantine, transported to hospital or refused entry.
Israel is the third country to introduce Ebola screening after the United States and Britain did so earlier this week.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates the death toll resulting from the worst outbreak of Ebola on record to have reached 4,033.
In Liberia, the hardest-hit West African country, 2,316 people have died.
The death toll in Sierra Leone and Guinea stands at nearly 1,000 respectively, according to the latest WHO update.
Culled from Vanguard www.vanguardngr.com
A statement issued on Sunday by the Texas Department of State Health Services said the health worker, whose identity was not released, was isolated after reporting a low-grade fever on Friday night.
Thomas Eric Duncan, a Liberian man who was the first patient to be diagnosed with Ebola in the U.S., died of the disease in the same hospital on Wednesday.
Duncan contracted the Ebola virus in Liberia, but did not begin to show symptoms of the disease until a few days after his arrival in Texas in September.
“We knew a second case could be a reality, and we’ve been preparing for this possibility,” Dr David Lakey, head of the Texas health department, said in the statement.
“We are broadening our team in Dallas and working with extreme diligence to prevent further spread,” he said.
Later at a news conference Dan Varga, a Texas medical official, said the healthcare worker at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital was wearing full protective gear.
Varga said the worker was self-monitoring for symptoms of Ebola when they recorded a slight fever and came to the hospital.
“The person was wearing protective gear prescribed by the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention when they were infected.
“We’re very concerned,” he said.
Meanwhile, Israel has announced that it would introduce screenings at its borders and at Ben Gurion International Airport in a bid to prevent Ebola patients from entering its territory.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said in a statement on Sunday that visitors from West Africa would have to answer a list of health-related questions upon arrival.
It added that any suspected carriers of the virus could be placed in quarantine, transported to hospital or refused entry.
Israel is the third country to introduce Ebola screening after the United States and Britain did so earlier this week.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates the death toll resulting from the worst outbreak of Ebola on record to have reached 4,033.
In Liberia, the hardest-hit West African country, 2,316 people have died.
The death toll in Sierra Leone and Guinea stands at nearly 1,000 respectively, according to the latest WHO update.
Culled from Vanguard www.vanguardngr.com
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