Ebola outbreak: Second Texas health worker 'tests positive'

[Karee 4,191]

A second health worker in the US state of Texas has tested positive for Ebola, health officials say.

A 26-year-old female nurse is already receiving treatment after becoming infected by a Liberian man who died from the deadly virus last week.

Meanwhile, the UN's Ebola mission chief says the world is falling behind in the race to contain the virus.

The World Health Organization (WHO) says 4,447 people have died from the outbreak, mainly in West Africa.

Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea have been hardest hit by the outbreak, which began in December 2013 but was confirmed in March.

-Snip-

Source: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-29628622

[Karee 4,191]

A second health care worker has tested positive for the Ebola virus, according to preliminary lab results released early Wednesday.

The health care worker, like nurse Nina Pham, took care of Thomas Eric Duncan, the Liberian man who became the nation’s first person diagnosed with the deadly virus.

The Texas Department of State Health Services confirmed the positive results.

Dallas police have announced that they have set up a staging area near Skillman Street and Village Bend Drive, and officers and Dallas-Fire Rescue personnel were distributing fliers to residents of an apartment complex to alert them about the latest Ebola case.

The worker reported a fever Tuesday and was immediately isolated at the hospital, health department spokeswoman Carrie Williams said in a written statement.

“Health officials have interviewed the latest patient to quickly identify any contacts or potential exposures, and those people will be monitored,” she said. “The type of monitoring depends on the nature of their interactions and the potential they were exposed to the virus.”

Preliminary testing, which yielded the positive result, was done Tuesday at the state public health laboratory in Austin. Confirmatory testing will be done by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.

More details are expected at a 7 a.m. news conference, which hospital officials, Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings and Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins are expected to attend.

Seventy-six employees of Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas, including doctors and nurses, were being monitored daily for possible exposure to the first Ebola patient while he was being treated, Dr. Tom Frieden, head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Tuesday.

Pham, one of Duncan’s caregivers, was diagnosed with the disease Sunday. Duncan died Oct. 8. He was first admitted to the hospital on Sept. 28.

Source: http://thescoopblog.dallasnews.com/2014/10/second-health-care-worker-tests-positive-for-ebola-in-dallas.html/

[belinda63 3,053]

It has started! Expect more.

[Robby999 1,024]

A second healthcare worker at the Dallas hospital where Ebola patient Thomas Duncan was treated has tested positive for the virus, Texas health officials say.

The Texas Department of State Health Services confirmed that the worker had tested positive in a statement early Wednesday. It did not specify what position the worker held at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital, though officials did say that the person was among those who provided care for Duncan, who died from the virus Oct. 8.

The statement said that the worker had reported a fever Tuesday and had been placed in isolation. Preliminary tests were run at the state public health lab in Austin and results came back at approximately midnight Wednesday. A separate test will be done at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.

The statement also said the health care worker, who wasn't identified, was interviewed to quickly identify any contacts or potential exposures and that others will be monitored. It added that the type of monitoring will depend on the nature of their interactions with the health care worker and the potential of exposure to the virus.

On Sunday, officials confirmed that 26-year-old nurse Nina Pham had tested positive for the virus. More than 70 people who may have had contact with Duncan at the hospital were being monitored. Officials have said they don't know how Pham became infected. But the second case pointed to lapses beyond how one individual may have donned and removed personal protective garb.

News of the latest positive test comes one day after the largest U.S. nurses' union charged that Duncan' caregivers worked for days without proper protective gear and faced constantly changing protocols.

A statement from National Nurses United also says Thomas Eric Duncan was left in an open area of an emergency room for hours.

A spokesman for the group says nurses were forced to use medical tape to secure openings in their flimsy garments. It's said that the patient had explosive diarrhea and projectile vomiting.

In a conference call with reporters executive director RoseAnn DeMoro says the allegations are based on revelations from "a few" nurses and that the claims were vetted.

The nurses also said that Duncan's lab samples were allowed to travel through the hospital's pneumatic tubes, opening the possibility of contaminating the specimen delivery system. The nurses also alleged that hazardous waste was allowed to pile up to the ceiling.

A hospital spokesman for told the Associated Press that the facility had not received similar complaints.

http://www.foxnews.com/health/2014/10/15/texas-health-officials-say-second-healthcare-worker-at-dallas-hospital-tests/

Not only is the current Administration totally incompetent it appears most of the major players in many of our public service offices are clueless also. In China the CDC director would be fired and possibly executed if it was decided he knowingly placed the public at risk of such a deadly disease. Maybe after the mid-term elections the administration will allow the flights from West Africa to be banned with the exception of military flights carrying aid workers and supplies to that area. It is sad that the entire population of the United States has been placed at risk of contracting a deadly virus just so the Administration can maintain their " Open Borders " policy in an attempt to hold onto the Hispanic vote!

[Robby999 1,024]

Could a mod please move my post over to the earlier topic started by Karee. http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/518534-ebola-outbreak-second-texas-health-worker-tests-positive/

Thanks

[Karee 4,191]

Could a mod please move my post over to the earlier topic started by Karee. http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/518534-ebola-outbreak-second-texas-health-worker-tests-positive/

Thanks

I'd do it, but they don't trust me with thread merging powers yet.

[Teddy B 17,252]

I'd do it, but they don't trust me with thread merging powers yet.

Shameless plug.

Not only is the current Administration totally incompetent it appears most of the major players in many of our public service offices are clueless also. In China the CDC director would be fired and possibly executed if it was decided he knowingly placed the public at risk of such a deadly disease. Maybe after the mid-term elections the administration will allow the flights from West Africa to be banned with the exception of military flights carrying aid workers and supplies to that area. It is sad that the entire population of the United States has been placed at risk of contracting a deadly virus just so the Administration can maintain their " Open Borders " policy in an attempt to hold onto the Hispanic vote!

[Karee 4,191]

Shameless plug.

Hey, I'm here to help.

[Teddy B 17,252]

Hey, I'm here to help.

Based on the opinions in the op, this thread is already circling the drain anyway.

[Karee 4,191]

Based on the opinions in the op, this thread is already circling the drain anyway.

I'm getting on a flight out of here in 3 hours to the Keys. I wonder if Dallas will be a flaming disaster before my return.

[lostinblue 1,989]

Is this nurse protected . ?

[Teddy B 17,252]

I'm getting on a flight out of here in 3 hours to the Keys. I wonder if Dallas will be a flaming disaster before my return.

Vacation?

[Karee 4,191]

This is what I'm wearing to protect myself.

Edited October 15, 2014 by Karee

[Teddy B 17,252]

Is this nurse protected . ?

[Karee 4,191]

Vacation?

Work. 12 days.