Wednesday 15 October 2014

Ebola outbreak: Jet passenger alert over US nurse

The Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital, where health care worker Nina Pham, is being treated for the Ebola virus is seen 14 October 2014
BBC News: US health officials are seeking 132 people who flew on a plane with a Texas nurse on the day before she came down with symptoms of Ebola.

The nurse, the second person to catch Ebola in the US, became ill on Tuesday.

Both she and nurse Nina Pham, 26, had treated Liberian Thomas Eric Duncan, who died on 8 October, in Dallas.

Meanwhile, the UN's Ebola mission chief says the world is falling behind in the race to contain the virus, which has killed more than 4,000 in West Africa.

On Wednesday, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said it wanted to interview the passengers on Frontier Airlines flight 1143 from Cleveland, Ohio, to Dallas, Texas on 13 October.

It said it was taking the measure "because of the proximity in time between the evening flight and first report of illness the following morning".

Both the newly diagnosed nurse, who has yet to be identified, and Ms Pham treated Mr Duncan early in his stay at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas when he had "extensive production of body fluids", CDC director Tom Frieden told reporters on Wednesday.

The second nurse flew to Cleveland on 10 October, even though she had had "extensive contact" with Mr Duncan and was being monitored for signs of Ebola and therefore should not have flown on a commercial aeroplane, Dr Frieden said.

Ms Pham subsequently became ill and was diagnosed with Ebola. When the second nurse returned from Ohio on Monday evening, she was not showing symptoms of the disease, the crew has told CDC investigators.

Health experts say people who are not showing symptoms are not contagious.

"We will from this moment forward ensure that no other individual who is being monitored for exposure undergoes travel in any way other than controlled movement," Dr Frieden said, meaning, for example, in chartered flights or ambulances.

On the morning of 14 October, the second nurse came down with a fever and was isolated within 90 minutes. Her diagnosis was announced early on Wednesday.

One of the ill women is to be transferred to Emory University hospital in Atlanta, which oversaw the recovery of two US aid workers who had caught the disease in Africa.

This is a reminder that Ebola is a dangerous threat even within some of the best hospitals in world.

This is the second case of transmission in Texas, on top of the case in Spain.

Protective gear should minimise the risk to health workers treating Ebola patients.

But worryingly there have been reports of staff not getting the correct equipment or the necessary training.

These isolated cases should not become an outbreak as authorities in both countries are monitoring those who came into contact with infected people.

But each new case of transmission is asking the question - is enough being done to protect healthcare workers?

Dr Frieden said there was a very low risk of infection to the passengers who were on the second nurse's flight.

Mr Duncan, who was the first person to be diagnosed in the US with Ebola, started showing symptoms of the disease just days after he arrived in Texas from Liberia, where he contracted it.

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.

The White House has announced President Barack Obama will convene a meeting of his cabinet over the US response to Ebola later on Wednesday, cancelling a political trip.

About 50 healthcare workers who entered Mr Duncan's room during his stay in hospital are being monitored, as are 48 people who had contact with him beforehand and a single person who had contact with Ms Pham.

Health officials have repeatedly warned more Ebola cases could be diagnosed in the US.


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