WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The condition of the American Ebola patient being treated at the U.S. National Institutes of Health in Maryland has worsened from serious to critical, NIH said in a statement on Monday.
The patient, a healthcare worker, was evacuated from West Africa and arrived at the NIH clinical center on Friday. The patient, described as a clinician working with Partners In Health at the medical aid group’s Sierra Leone Ebola center, has not been further identified.
Partners in Health said in a statement that 10 of its clinicians in Sierra Leone “came to the aid of their ailing colleague” and were subsequently identified as contacts of the patient now being treated at NIH.
The 10, who do not have Ebola symptoms, were flown to the United States over the weekend and will remain in isolation near designated Ebola treatment facilities to give them access to rapid testing and, if necessary, treatment.
The healthcare workers have agreed to be monitored, and will voluntarily isolate themselves during the remainder of the 21-day Ebola incubation period, the group said.
Tom Skinner, a spokesman for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said the agency is continuing to investigate the circumstances around the 10 exposures.
(Reporting by Susan Heavey and Julie Steenhuysen. Writing by Sharon Begley. Editing by Phil Berlowitz)