Ebola Outbreak: Second Texas Health Worker Tests Positive

A second person involved in the care of Ebola patient Thomas Eric Duncan has contracted the disease, the Texas Department of State Health Services said in a statement early Wednesday. The health-care worker, who wasn't identified, reported a fever Tuesday and was immediately isolated at the Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital. The statement said a preliminary Ebola test was conducted late Tuesday at a state public health lab in Austin. A test to confirm the result will be conducted at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.
Zach Thompson, director of Dallas Health and Human Services, speaking on CBS-KTVT, said the second worker confirmed to have the Ebola virus was one of the 76 hospital staffers who cared for Duncan and were being monitored by the CDC. The original 48 people who had contact with him prior to hospitalization are still showing no signs of the virus, he said.

"Right now, we have two confirmed cases at this time, I don't know if there will be additional cases but not let's be surprised." Thompson said.

Dallas nurse Nina Pham, 26, who contracted the disease from Duncan before he died, said Tuesday she is "doing well" and thanked the medical staff at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital for her care.

Source: USA Today