CDC Confirms Patient In Dallas Has The Ebola Virus

[Silent_Bob]

http://dfw.cbslocal.com/2014/09/30/cdc-confirms-patient-in-dallas-has-the-ebola-virus/

DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) – Officials with the Centers for Disease Control have confirmed that a person in Dallas definitely has the Ebola virus. Tuesday's official determination makes the patient at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas the first diagnosed Ebola case in the United States.

Officials with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Texas Department of State Health Services, Presbyterian Hospital and Dallas County Health and Human Services (DCHHS) all participated in an afternoon press conference. CDC Director Thomas Frieden related the information that the individual who tested positive had traveled to Liberia. The person left Liberia on September 19 and arrived in the United States on September 20 with no virus symptoms. Frieden said it was four or five days later that the patient, who is believed to be male, began developing symptoms and was ultimately admitted to Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas on Sunday, September 28.

"We received in our laboratory today specimens from the individual, tested them and they tested positive for Ebola. The State of Texas also operates a laboratory that found the same results," Frieden said. After the confirmation statement Frieden went on to stress that the testing for Ebola is very accurate, saying that it's a PCR test of blood.

As far as the medical condition of the infected patient, Frieden did say that he "is critically ill at this point."

Doctors said the patient will remain in North Texas and be treated at Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas. Dr. Frieden expained why that decision was made saying that almost every hospital in the U.S. that has isolation facilities, can do isolation for Ebola. "So we don't see a need, from either a medical or a infection control standpoint, to try and move the patient," he said.

Now that the virus is confirmed, Frieden said the next steps are three-fold. "First, to care for the patient... to provide the most effective care possible, as safely as possible, to keep – to an absolute minimum – the likelihood or possibility that anyone would become infected. And second, to maximize the chances that the patient might recover."

Frieden said another important step would be to identify all of the people who may have had contact with the patient while he could have been infectious. Frieden did state with emphasis that Ebola DOES NOT spread from someone who is not infectious. "It does not spread from someone who doesn't have fever and other symptoms," he said. "So, it's only someone who is sick with Ebola who can spread the disease."

Officials said once those who had contact with the patient are identified they will be monitored for 21 days after exposure, to see if they develop fever. Frieden said, "If they develop fever then those same criteria are used to isolate them and make sure that they are cared for as well as possible, so that they maximize their chances [for recovery] and to minimize or eliminate the chance that they would infect other people."

Several minutes into the press conference Dr. Frieden paused and stated clearly, "The bottom line here is that I have no doubt that we will control this importation, of this case of Ebola so that it does not spread widely in this country."

Dr. Frieden did admit that is possible a family member or other person who had contact with the patient, while he was infectious, cold develop Ebola in the coming weeks. But he said, "There is no doubt in my mind that we will stop it here."

It still isn't known how the patient became infected but Frieden said he "undoubtedly had close contact with someone who was sick with Ebola or had died from it."

The Commissioner of the Texas Department of State Health Services, David Lakey, M.D., joined the press conference by phone and explained that a specially trained team in Austin had been certified to perform Ebola testing back in August. Blood samples from the patient were received at the Texas Public Health Laboratory at 9 a.m. and by 1 p.m. were definitely confirmed to be Ebola.

Noting the contact with state, national and local North Texas agencies Lakey said, "We have no other suspected cases in the state of Texas at this time. We're committed to keeping Texas safe."

Presbyterian Hospital Dallas Epidemiologist Edward Goodman said during the press conference that the hospital has had a plan in place for Ebola for some time now and that a recent event, coincidentally, made the team in North Texas especially prepared.  "Ironically enough, in the week before this patient presented, we had a meeting of all the stakeholders that might be involved in the care of such a patient; and because of that we were well prepared to deal with this crisis."

Dallas County Health and Human Services director Zachary Thompson was also part of the press conference and detailed briefly how the county is conducting public health follow-ups that include investigating who the patient had contact with, and gathering information about the patient's travel history and activities.

With the first U.S. diagnosed case of Ebola in Dallas, Dr. Thompson took time to try and put the mind's of North Texans at ease. "Dallas County Health and Human Services will proceed with the pubic health follow-up, per CDC guidelines," he said, adding, "And Dallas County Health and Human Services wants Dallas County residents to be reassured that your public health is our number one priority.

When asked if there was any danger for the individuals who were on the plane traveling with the now sick patient, Frieden again stress that Ebola doesn't spread until the person actually gets physically ill and said he doesn't believe there is any risk to anyone that was on any plane that the person had traveled on.

Dr. Frieden said the CDC is working in conjunction with airports around the world. "One of the things that CDC has done in Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea and Lagos is to work with the airport authorities so 100-percent of the individuals getting on planes are screened for fever before they get on a plane, and if they have a fever they're pulled out of the line, accessed for Ebola, and don't fly unless Ebola is ruled out."

It was late on the evening of September 29 that CBS 11 News learned a patient at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas was feared to have been exposed to the Ebola virus.

Health officials said given the information that the unnamed patient had been in the West Africa area where the Ebola virus exists and the type of symptoms they were exhibiting, testing would be performed.

After the information was related to the CDC the health institute sent a team to North Texas just in case the patient was infected with Ebola. A team of  CDC epidemiologists, and Public Health Preparedness and Response member David Daigle, are now en route to Dallas.

Monday night Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas released the following statement:

    "Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas has admitted a patient into strict isolation to be evaluated for potential Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) based on the patient's symptoms and recent travel history. The hospital is following all Centers for Disease Control and Texas Department of Heath recommendations to ensure the safety of patients, hospital staff, volunteers, physicians and visitors. The CDC anticipates preliminary results tomorrow (Wednesday)."

Of course, since the patient was already in "strict isolation" officials at Presbyterian Hospital said that will continue.

On Monday night CBS 11 spoke with Dr. Zachary Thompson, who stressed that there were certain procedures that would need to be followed if tests for the patient come back positive. "We [health professionals] all had been planning to look at what our next steps are if there is a confirmed case," Thompson said. "Again, we have to do the public health follow up to see what contacts, where this individual has gone since they arrived here in Dallas. There are a number of things that have to be looked at."

Before it was confirmed the patient definitely had the virus, Thompson spoke about the possibility of other North Texans being infected by the patient. "The key point is, if there's been no transmission, blood, secretion, any type of bodily fluids by the infected person to someone else, then that [infection] risk is low to none."

The Ebola virus has killed more than 3,000 people across West Africa and infected several Americans who have traveled to the region, including Fort Worth doctor Kent Brantly, who contracted the disease while doing missionary work in Liberia. Earlier this month Dr. Brantly donated a unit of blood to help treat an American aid worker being cared for in Nebraska. While the medical procedure hasn't been proven, doctors were experimenting to see if antibodies in Kent Brantly's blood could help strengthen the immune system of the patient. There's no word on if that approach will be taken with the patient in Dallas.

In all, four infected patients have returned to the United States in specially outfitted planes — three were treated in Atlanta and the fourth, who Dr. Brantly donated blood to, in Omaha. An American physician who was exposed to the virus, but not infected, was flown to Maryland over the weekend.

Since July 27, a dozen people in the U.S. had been tested for Ebola, but all those tests were negative.

[KBCraig]

Unless you're in immediate physical contact with him, no worries.

[Tom Sawyer]

Or yoga. Watch out Dale!

[Jim Johnson]

What if the guy explodes during a tornado and his vapor flies all over the world.

[Jim Johnson]

Sen. Rand Paul sounds Ebola alarm

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Kentucky, warned that the U.S. could be underestimating the potential for Ebola to wreak havoc in the U.S. because of "political correctness."

"It's a big mistake to underestimate the potential for problems worldwide," Paul said on "The Laura Ingraham Show" Tuesday.


http://www.cbsnews.com/news/sen-rand-paul-sounds-ebola-alarm/

[Tom Sawyer]

So they give me a ration of shit about getting on an airplane... But, Ebola from Africa, no problem.

[WithoutAPaddle]

...if there's been no transmission, blood, secretion, any type of bodily fluids by the infected person to someone else, then that [infection] risk is low to none."...

The "none" risk I like, but the "low" risk does trouble me.

[dalebert]

What if the guy explodes during a tornado and his vapor flies all over the world.

Sci-fi original: Ebolnado!

[Jim Johnson]

What if the guy explodes during a tornado and his vapor flies all over the world.

Sci-fi original: Ebolnado!

I'd put money into that movie.

[Russell Kanning]

So they give me a ration of shit about getting on an airplane... But, Ebola from Africa, no problem.

you might pose a threat to the regime