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At least seven people in Ohio are under quarantine after they had contact with the second Texas nurse diagnosed with Ebola. We’ve also learned today that the first nurse will soon be transferred from Dallas to Maryland.
Amber Vinson traveled on a commercial flight to Cleveland. She made the trip even after reporting a low-grade fever. She was visiting family. Vinson was exposed to the virus while treating patient Thomas Eric Duncan, who died last week in Dallas.
Hazmat crews arrived at her Dallas apartment early Thursday morning where she lived alone with no pets. They are beginning the second phase of the decontamination process. Officials say crews may not have to completely dismantle the entire home since it’s believed she wasn’t actively ill inside the apartment.
Meanwhile, 26-year old Nina Pham is scheduled to be moved from Dallas to Bethesda, Maryland Thursday. Pham was also diagnosed after treating Duncan. She will be treated at the National Institutes of Health. The centre has specialized high-level isolation and containment facilities.
So what went wrong? Why do these nurses have Ebola? Earlier this week, Dr. Sanjay Gupta made a video showing how protective gear is used, and how contamination is possible when removing it. Here is that video.
It’s clear that contamination while treating someone with Ebola is very possible. The question is, why was a nurse allowed to travel by air just two days after the death of the Ebola patient she was treating?
During a hearing today, U.S. officials demanded answers from the CDC.
Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, CDC Director: “People who are in what’s called controlled — controlled movement should not board commercial airlines.”
Rep. DeGette: “Right. And that’s people who have had close contact with these patients, right? That’s what your guidelines say.”
Dr. Frieden: “The guidelines say that people, health care workers with appropriate personal protective equipment don’t need to be. But people without appropriate personal protective equipment do need to travel by controlled transport.
But the plane that carried the nurse from Dallas to Cleveland went on to fly six more routes, before the airline realized there was a possibility of Ebola contamination. It also made trips from Cleveland to Atlanta, and Cleveland to Fort Lauderdale. Frontier Airlines is contacting more than one hundred and 30 passengers.
This all began when someone traveled from Liberia. And while some officials think a travel ban or more restrictions is a good idea — the CDC says a ban would make tracking the virus more difficult.
Dr. Frieden: “Right now we know who’s coming in. If we try to eliminate travel, the possibility that some will travel over land will come from other places. We won’t be able to check them for fever when they leave. We won’t be able to check for fever when they arrive. We won’t be able, as we do currently, be able to take a detailed history to see if they were exposed.”
Air Canada’s flight attendants have won permission from the carrier to wear disposable gloves to help protect themselves from the risk of coming into contact with the Ebola virus. The country’s largest carrier says it has no objections to cabin crews donning protection when collecting passenger waste — like cups, that could carry saliva infected with Ebola.
