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First Ebola case diagnosed in the US First Ebola case diagnosed outside Africa being treated in US hospital
(35 minutes later)
Medical officials in the United States announced on Tuesday the first case of the latest strain of Ebola to be diagnosed outside Africa. The patient, who has not yet been identified, is being treated in Dallas, Texas. Medical officials in the United States announced on Tuesday the first case of Ebola to be diagnosed outside Africa during the latest outbreak, which has killed more than 3,000 people this year.
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said the patient left Liberia in west Africa on 19 September, but did not develop symptoms until after arriving in the US. He was admitted to the Texas Health Presbyterian hospital in Dallas on Sunday. The patient, who has not yet been identified, is being treated in Dallas, Texas.
Thomas Frieden, the director of the CDC, said the patient was being treated in isolation. All measures would be taken to ensure that the disease would not spread in the US, he said. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said the patient left Liberia in west Africa on 19 September, but did not develop symptoms until a few days after arriving in the US. He was admitted to the Texas Health Presbyterian hospital in Dallas on Sunday.
“I have no doubt that we will control this case of Ebola so that it does not spread widely in this country,” he told a news conference. The disease has spread rapidly in west Africa, killing more than 3,000 people. Thomas Frieden, the director of the CDC, said the patient was being treated in strict isolation, and that all measures would be taken to ensure that the disease would not spread in the US.
Frieden said the CDC believed it was the first case of the latest variant to be diagnosed outside Africa. “This is the first patient diagnosed outside of Africa to our knowledge with this particular strain of Ebola,” he said. “I have no doubt that we will control this case of Ebola so that it does not spread widely in this country,” he told a news conference. The disease has spread rapidly in west Africa, killing more than 3,000 people since the outbreak began in March.
A spokeswoman for Dallas County health and human services department told the Guardian that it will be “conducting a public health follow-up” on the patient which will include investigating his travel history and recent activity. Frieden said the CDC believed it was the first case of Ebola to be diagnosed outside Africa in the latest outbreak. “This is the first patient diagnosed outside of Africa to our knowledge with this particular strain of Ebola,” he said.
Friedman said there was “zero risk” that the patient could have transmitted the disease on the flight from Liberia to the US, because he was not infectious at the time. Few details were released about the patient. The CDC would only confirm that he was not involved in the public health response to the crisis in Liberia, and was visiting family in the US. The patient’s citizenship was not disclosed.
Doctors were discussing with the patient’s family the possibility of treating the patient with experimental therapies, Frieden said. The White House said the president had been briefed. “The president and director Frieden discussed the stringent isolation protocols under which the patient is being treated as well as ongoing efforts to trace the patient’s contacts to mitigate the risk of additional cases,” a White House spokesman said.
The man began developing symptoms, which can include high fever, vomiting, diarrhoea, as well as internal and external bleeding, on 24 September. He sought treatment for the first time on 26 September but was not admitted to hospital until two days later.
Specimens from the patient arrived at the CDC in Atlanta on Tuesday, where tests determined he was suffering from Ebola. A state-operated laboratory in Texas also concluded that the specimens tested positive for Ebola. Frieden said testing for Ebola is “highly accurate”.
A spokeswoman for Dallas County health and human services department told the Guardian that it will be “conducting a public health follow-up” on the patient which will include investigating his travel history and recent contacts.
Friedman said there was “zero risk” that the patient could have transmitted the disease on the flight from Liberia to the US, because he was not infectious at the time. Ebola can only be spread through direct contact through blood or bodily fluids, after the first appearance of symptoms.
Doctors were discussing with the patient’s family the possibility of treating the patient with experimental therapies, Frieden said. He acknowledged that other people who came into contact with the patient could develop the disease. “It is certainly possible that someone who had contact with this individual ... could develop Ebola in the coming weeks,” Frieden said.
Health officials in Texas attempted to reassure residents. “Dallas county residents should not have any fears at this point, there is not an Ebola outbreak in Dallas county,” Zachary S Thompson, the Dallas county director of health and human services, told the Dallas Morning News earlier on Tuesday, before the case was confirmed.Health officials in Texas attempted to reassure residents. “Dallas county residents should not have any fears at this point, there is not an Ebola outbreak in Dallas county,” Zachary S Thompson, the Dallas county director of health and human services, told the Dallas Morning News earlier on Tuesday, before the case was confirmed.
“There are great mechanisms put in place in terms of our public health infrastructure to look at these particular situations and look at the proper response.” “There are great mechanisms put in place in terms of our public health infrastructure to look at these particular situations and look at the proper response,” Thompson said.
Dr David Lakey, commissioner of the Texas department of state health services, told the CDC briefing: “We have no other suspected cases in the state of Texas at this time.”
The Texas patient is the fifth to receive treatment for Ebola in the US, and the sixth American to contract the disease: a civil servant with dual American-Liberian citizenship died in Monrovia last month. Dr Kent Brantly of Texas and Nancy Writebol, a missionary from North Carolina, were the first Ebola patients to be treated in the US.The Texas patient is the fifth to receive treatment for Ebola in the US, and the sixth American to contract the disease: a civil servant with dual American-Liberian citizenship died in Monrovia last month. Dr Kent Brantly of Texas and Nancy Writebol, a missionary from North Carolina, were the first Ebola patients to be treated in the US.
Brantly and Writebol were treated in biocontainment unitat Emory University hospital in Atlanta. Both patients received doses of an experimental drug which has since been depleted.Dr Rick Sacra, the third US aid worker to contract Ebola while working at a hospital in the Liberian capital, Monrovia, was released from Nebraska Medical Center last week. Sacra went back to Monrovia after his colleagues Brantly and Writebol were diagnosed. There he treated obstetrics patients.A fourth unidentified patient is being treated at Emory. The patient’s identity is not being revealed for confidentiality reasons, but he is believed to be a World Health Organization doctor who was working in an Ebola treatment center in Sierra Leone. Brantly and Writebol were treated in a bio-containment unit at Emory University hospital in Atlanta. Both patients received doses of an experimental drug which has since been depleted.Dr Rick Sacra, the third US aid worker to contract Ebola while working at a hospital in the Liberian capital, Monrovia, was released from Nebraska Medical Center last week. Sacra went back to Monrovia after his colleagues Brantly and Writebol were diagnosed. There he treated obstetrics patients.A fourth patient is being treated at Emory. The patient’s identity has not being revealed for confidentiality reasons, but he is believed to be a World Health Organization doctor who was working in an Ebola treatment center in Sierra Leone.