According to an update today by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a total of 125 people are being monitored for Ebola symptoms after having possible or confirmed contact with Thomas Eric Duncan, the first person diagnosed with the virus in the U.S., during his treatment at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas.
The number of people being monitored for Ebola symptoms in Dallas, Texas, rose dramatically today as U.S. health officials broadened their net to include 125 people who had either definite or possible contact with the first person to be diagnosed with Ebola in the United States.
In an update on the situation in Dallas, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said Tuesday that they are now monitoring a total of 125 people, 11 of whom had definite contact and 114 of whom who had possible contact with Thomas Eric Duncan, who died from Ebola on Oct. 8.
The additional monitoring followed confirmation that a nurse caring for Duncan became infected with the deadly virus. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control had already been tracking 48 people who may have had direct or indirect contact with Duncan before he was admitted to the hospital. None of the 125 people being monitored are showing symptoms of Ebola, WFAA reported today.
Of the 76 additional people who were added to the CDC’s monitoring list, 75 are people who worked in the hospital and cared for Duncan while he was sick, and one is someone who had contact with Nina Pham, the nurse who was diagnosed with Ebola after caring for Duncan, the New York Times reported.
Pham, 26, is currently in good condition, according to a statement from Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas, where she is receiving treatment. She received a blood transfusion from Ebola survivor Kent Brantly, who was infected with the virus while working in Liberia and was brought back to the United States for treatment.
“I’m doing well and want to thank everyone for their kind wishes and prayers,” Pham said in a statement released by the hospital. “I am blessed by the support of family and friends and am blessed to be cared for by the best team of doctors and nurses in the world here at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas.”
CDC officials are still working to identify the inadvertent “breach of protocol” that led to the infection, which was the first human-to-human transmission of Ebola ever documented in the U.S. According to medical records obtained by the Associated Press, all nurses, doctors and other hospital employees involved in Duncan’s care wore full protective equipment — including “face shields, double gowns, protective footwear and even hazmat suits” — to prevent such exposures.
Yesterday, CDC Director Dr. Thomas Frieden said the agency would be taking a number of steps including offering more training and outreach throughout the health care system, adding that the infection of a health care worker wearing protective gear “substantially” changes the way public health officials address infection control, he said. “We have to rethink how we provide care,” he said. “Even a single infection is unacceptable.”
While none of the contacts are showing symptoms, Dr. Frieden urged the public to brace for more bad news. “We need to consider the possibility that there could be additional cases, particularly among the health care workers who cared for” Ebola patient Thomas Eric Duncan, he said, adding: “We’re concerned that there could be other infections in the coming days.”