Transmission electron micrograph of the Ebola virusWIKIMEDIA, CDC, FREDERICK MURPHYThis past weekend marked the first time a patient in the U.S. has contracted the Ebola virus, which continues its rampage through West Africa. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirmed the diagnosis on Sunday (October 12). The patient, a nurse at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas, is now reported to be in stable condition, Texas Health Resources chief clinical officer Dan Varga told CNN, and another person, a “close contact” of the nurse, has been placed in isolation.
The nurse, identified by the Houston Chronicle (Chron) as Nina Pham, is believed to have caught the virus during her multiple visits with Thomas Eric Duncan, the first US patient with Ebola who died last week. According to the Chron, Phame was one of about 70 health-care workers who helped treat Duncan, drawing his blood, intubating him, and cleaning up his bodily fluids. Pham apparently had “extensive contact” on “multiple occasions” with Duncan, CDC Director Tom Frieden said at a news conference Sunday. And despite having worn a protective gown, gloves, mask, and a shield, “at some point, there was a breach in protocol, and that breach in protocol resulted in this infection.”
The Dallas Fire Department has decontaminated Pham’s car and the public areas ...
