Another American has been reported to have tested positive to the deadly Ebola virus. The unidentified healthcare worker is believed to be a nurse. The worker tested positive in a preliminary test, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services.
In a report on Foxnews.com, Texas officials said the health care worker was infected when treating Duncan on his second visit and that the person’s family has requested “total privacy.”
Top federal doctors acknowledged Sunday that a “breach in protocol” resulted in a Dallas hospital worker getting Ebola while treating the country’s first patient and said changes in the handling of such cases are being made.
Texas officials announced earlier Sunday that a health care worker in full protective gear contracted the deadly virus at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas when helping Thomas Eric Duncan, the first person diagnosed with Ebola in the United States, who died last week.
Texas officials announced earlier Sunday that a health care worker in full protective gear contracted the deadly virus at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas when helping Thomas Eric Duncan, the first person diagnosed with Ebola in the United States, who died last week.
There is now a worrying aspect of contracting the deadly virus by a healthcare worker while taking off his/her protective gear.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta is conducting confirmatory testing on the blood sample, and its results are expected to be announced later in the day.
The nurse was reported to have had “extensive contact” on “multiple occasions” with Duncan.
“At some point, there was a breach in protocol, and that breach in protocol resulted in this infection,” he said at a news conference Sunday. “The (Ebola treatment) protocols work. … But we know that even a single lapse or breach can result in infection.”
If the preliminary diagnosis is confirmed, it would be the first known case of the disease being contracted or transmitted inside the U.S
