MOSCOW, October 9 (RIA Novosti) - A sheriff’s deputy who had been in the apartment of the deceased US Ebola patient and contacted his relatives was taken to a Texas hospital on Wednesday after exhibiting symptoms of the lethal virus disease, CBS cited Dallas officials as saying.
“The deputy expressed concern and we directed that deputy to the Dallas County Health & Human Services for care. We now wait for further information as medical staff attends to the deputy,” the Dallas County Sheriff's office said Wednesday as quoted by CBS.
Michael Monnig was first brought to a Frisco Care Now facility where he complained of “stomach issues.” After exhibiting signs consistent with Ebola virus, the patient was moved to Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas, a designated center for Ebola treatment.
Thomas Eric Duncan, a Liberian native who was the first person to test positive for Ebola in the United States, died fighting the disease at the Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital on Wednesday where he was admitted for treatment on September 28.
The Ebola virus is transmitted through direct contact with the bodily fluids of those infected.
Tom Frieden, director at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said earlier they were monitoring 48 people, ten of whom had had a contact with Eric Duncan, while the rest 38 presented a lower risk. He added that no possibilities were completely ruled out and that all people would be monitored for 21 days, which is the maximum incubation period.
Speaking at a press conference, Frieden also said that, while Ebola was making its way across Africa, CDC could not talk of a zero risk in the United States, adding it was sworn to protect Americans in the most effective way.
Since the start of the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, many countries have been working to create an Ebola cure, including Russia, Britain, South Africa, China, Canada and EU member states, the CDC chief noted. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the death toll from the epidemic has surpassed 3,800.
