MOSCOW, October 13 (RIA Novosti) - Officials in the state of Texas have reported that a ‘breach of protocol’ led to a nurse becoming the first person to contract Ebola in the United States, the Dallas Morning News reported.
It is unknown how the breach occurred, but it has led to concerns that other health workers may also be infected. Tom Frieden, Director of the US Centers for Disease Control has warned that “unfortunately, it is possible in the coming days that we will see additional cases of Ebola. This is because the health care workers who cared for this individual may have had a breach of the same nature.”
The nurse, whose name has not been released, is now in an isolation ward and in stable condition. Her patient, Thomas Duncan, had caught the virus in his native Liberia. Duncan died last week, and 48 other people who may have had contact with Duncan are also under observation.
The nurse had apparently been wearing full protective gear while treating Duncan, the Guardian has said.
A close contact of the worker had also been placed under observation, the source said.
Dallas County judge Clay Jenkins urged calm in the community, noting that while “this is obviously bad news, it is not news that should bring about panic. We have a strategy to monitor this and we will go to that strategy to keep the community safe,” the Guardian also said.
US President Barack Obama told US Secretary of Health and Human Services Sylvia Burwell to conduct a thorough investigation of the Ebola infection.
Over 4,000 people are estimated to have died from the Ebola outbreak, most of them in the West African countries of Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone.
