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Report: CDC has confirmed an Ebola case in Texas CDC confirms first case of Ebola in the U.S.
(35 minutes later)
UPDATE: The Dallas-Fort Worth CBS affiliate is reporting that a patient who was being evaluated for Ebola has tested positive for the virus. According to Reuters, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed the case -- the first time Ebola has been diagnosed in the United States. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has confirmed the first case of Ebola that's been diagnosed in the United States.
The CDC will host a press conference at its Atlanta headquarters at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Reuters reported. A CDC spokesperson declined to comment to The Washington Post. "An individual traveling from Liberia has been diagnosed with Ebola in the United States," Thomas Frieden, director of the CDC, said in a conference call Tuesday afternoon.
CDC confirms Dallas patient has tested positive for Ebola. http://t.co/uolVlAT6kF — CBSDFW (@CBSDFW) September 30, 2014 State and federal health officials announcing the confirmed case repeatedly stressed the difficulties of contracting Ebola, which can be spread through bodily fluids or infected animals but not through the air or by water.
CDC confirms Dallas patient has tested positive for Ebola. http://t.co/uolVlAT6kF This person who is infected left Liberia on Sept. 19 and arrived in the U.S. the following day with no symptoms. They began showing symptoms four days after arriving in the U.S.
— CBSDFW (@CBSDFW) September 30, 2014 "The bottom line here is that I have no doubt that we will control this importation, or this case of Ebola, so that it does not spread widely in this country," he said. "It is certainly possible that someone who had contact with this individual could develop Ebola in the coming weeks. But there is no doubt in my mind that we will stop it here."
ORIGINAL POST: A patient admitted by Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas has been placed in strict isolation and is being evaluated for a potential Ebola infection "based on the patient's symptoms and recent travel history," the hospital said in a statement. The patient with Ebola, who was not identified, is being treated in intensive care, according to Edward Goodman, the hospital epidemiologist at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas
The statement did not say what symptoms the patient was displaying, or where the unidentified person had traveled, although the deadliest Ebola outbreak in history is centered in the West African countries of Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, where it has killed more than 3,000 people and infected thousands of others. There is a separate outbreak in Congo. Health officials are going to work to identify everyone who may have been exposed to this patient, Frieden said. This group, described as a "handful" of people by Frieden, will be watched for three weeks to see if any symptoms emerge.
The Dallas hospital said it is "following all federal Centers for Disease Control and Texas Department of Heath recommendations to ensure the safety of patients, hospital staff, volunteers, physicians and visitors." Test results are expected from the CDC on Tuesday, the statement said. "Remember, Ebola does not spread from someone who's not infectious," Frieden said. "It does not spread from someone who does not have a fever or other symptoms."
Zachary Thompson, director of the Dallas County Health and Human Services Department, told the local CBS affiliate that the patient had been in an area where the Ebola virus exists. David Lakey, head of the Texas Department of Health Services, said the state's laboratory in Austin, Tex., was certified last month to do Ebola testing. That laboratory received a blood sample from the patient on Tuesday morning and confirmed it was Ebola shortly after 1 p.m., he said.
"With what we've seen in the media and how deadly the Ebola virus is, it is a concern," Thompson said. The Texas Department of Health Services said that the patient is at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas.
No Ebola cases have been confirmed in the United States, although several American doctors and aid workers who were infected in West Africa have returned home for treatment. One of them, Richard Sacra, was discharged last week from a Nebraska hospital. The test, the Texas health department said, was conducted at the state public health laboratory in Austin and later confirmed by the CDC.
In the statement, the health department said:
The CDC recommends that individuals protect themselves by avoiding contact with the blood and body fluids of people who are ill with Ebola. DSHS also encourages health care providers to ask patients about recent travel and consider Ebola in patients with fever and a history of travel to Sierra Leone, Guinea, Liberia, and some parts of Nigeria within 21 days of the onset of symptoms.
The CDC recommends that individuals protect themselves by avoiding contact with the blood and body fluids of people who are ill with Ebola. DSHS also encourages health care providers to ask patients about recent travel and consider Ebola in patients with fever and a history of travel to Sierra Leone, Guinea, Liberia, and some parts of Nigeria within 21 days of the onset of symptoms.
The deadliest Ebola outbreak in history is centered in the West African countries of Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, where it has killed more than 3,000 people and infected thousands of others. There is a separate outbreak in Congo.
No Ebola cases had been confirmed in the United States previously, although several American doctors and aid workers who were infected in West Africa have returned home for treatment. One of them, Richard Sacra, was discharged last week from a Nebraska hospital.
Days later, the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda admitted an American physician who was exposed to the Ebola virus in Sierra Leone.Days later, the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda admitted an American physician who was exposed to the Ebola virus in Sierra Leone.
Possible Ebola patients who were tested in New York, California, New Mexico and Miami all tested negative for the virus.Possible Ebola patients who were tested in New York, California, New Mexico and Miami all tested negative for the virus.
Here is a video showing how the Ebola virus works.
And here is more on the spread: