A second health care worker who had cared for Thomas Eric Duncan has been contaminated with the Ebola virus. The hospital worker is a woman who lives alone. As soon as the results came back positive, she was moved into isolation at the Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital, according to authorities. The Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital is being accused of not handling the possible Ebola cases properly. Initially, the hospital had sent Thomas Eric Duncan home, although he was clearly presenting Ebola-related symptoms, such as fever. He had also recently returned from West Africa. After returning to the hospital, his symptoms were aggravated. He died at the Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital. The two health care workers who had been diagnosed with the deadly Ebola virus, both came in contact with Duncan on numerous occasions.
The second Ebola contaminated health care worker had no pets. She lived alone, which means no family members were put under supervision. Seventy-five health care workers from Dallas are being monitored under strict supervision for any possible Ebola symptoms. Clay Jenkins, Dallas County Judge, who is in charge of overseeing the response efforts, had stated that forty-eight other people from the community are being monitored for Ebola symptoms. These 48 persons had come into contact with Thomas Eric Duncan, the first Ebola patient from Dallas. So far, these persons do no present any symptoms. Sunday will be the last day of their monitoring. Ebola symptoms take 21 days to begin showing.
The second health care worker who came into contact with the virus was isolated on Tuesday, after reporting fever. The virus is not contagious before symptoms start manifesting. The preliminary Ebola test was done on Tuesday at the state public health laboratory in Austin, Texas. A second test will be conducted by another laboratory at the Center for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. The health care worker’s apartment and car have been sterilized on Wednesday. The fact that Thomas Eric Duncan was not properly cared for, and subsequently caused contamination of others stirred quite a scandal. Health care specialists say that he should have been transferred as soon as possible to Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha, or Emory University Hospital in Atlanta. These two hospitals are among the very few four hospitals which have biocontainment units and have been prepared for possible outbreaks of such infectious disease for years.