Contacts of First Dallas Ebola Patient Count Down to All Clear - East Idaho News

Contacts of First Dallas Ebola Patient Count Down to All Clear

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surgical%20mask?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1413726153355iStock/Thinkstock(DALLAS) — All of the 48 people who had contact with the first person to be diagnosed with Ebola in the United States will no longer have to be monitored for the virus at the end of the day Sunday, the Dallas official spearheading the county response said.

Thomas Eric Duncan’s fiancee Louise Troh and her family will have their active control order lifted at the end of the day, according to the Texas State Health Department.

“They will no longer need to stay home starting Monday,” the statement said. “Someone will formally bring the release to them on Monday.”

Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins called this weekend a critical period in the response to Ebola after two nurses who were involved in the treatment of Thomas Eric Duncan contracted the disease.

He said it is “right in the middle of the hot zone” now for the health care workers who had contact with Duncan prior to his death on Oct. 8. Symptoms are most likely to begin to manifest within 8 to 10 days of exposure to Ebola.

One of the original 48 contacts with Duncan came off the list two days ago, and Jenkins said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will release numbers of others who have come off the list in the last two days.

Of the 75 health care workers who are also being monitored, none are seeing patients at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital, the judge said.

Jenkins said it is a nervous time for so many of the people stuck in a very difficult situation.

“They frequently will have headaches and upset stomachs and other symptoms, and I would too if I were on that list,” he said, adding that their symptoms forced officials to make sure they don’t have Ebola.

They are free to come to the hospital to work in their offices and to visit the command center, but they are all furloughed and most of them are staying at home, Jenkins said.

Although as of Saturday morning 10 or 12 of the health care workers had not yet signed the agreement with the state to avoid public places and to not travel, Jenkins said all of them are complying with the state’s requirements.

Texas Health Presbyterian became the first hospital in the nation to be faced with diagnosing Ebola on American soil when Duncan, a Liberian man visiting family in Dallas, went to the emergency room on Sept. 26. He was initially sent home with antibiotics, but returned two days later in an ambulance when his symptoms worsened. The hospital put Duncan in isolation. He died on Oct. 8.

Two nurses contracted Ebola from Duncan, though how exactly they were exposed hasn’t been released. Nina Pham, 26, was diagnosed on Oct. 11, and Amber Vinson, 29, was diagnosed on Oct. 15, health officials said.

Texas Health Presbyterian cared for Pham in isolation for five days before requesting that she be moved to another facility. She was flown to an NIH facility in Bethesda, Maryland, on Oct. 16, and Vinson was flown to Emory University Hospital the day before.

Pham’s boyfriend has been isolated and is being monitored, Jenkins said Saturday, though he offered no more details.


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