A Texas hospital is treating the first person diagnosed with Ebola in the United States, and the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control is working to prevent any spread of the deadly virus, federal health officials announced Tuesday.
The patient, a man, arrived in the United States from Liberia Sept. 20. and later began showing Ebola symptoms.
Health officials said they are confident the virus will be contained. But they acknowledged that as long as the outbreak, which has killed more than 3,000 people, continues in West Africa, the risk remains of cases emerging in the U.S.
“I have no doubt we will control this case of Ebola, so it will not spread widely in this country,” Dr. Thomas Frieden, head of the CDC, said during a press conference. At the same time, he cautioned that in today’s world, “ultimately we are all connected.”
The man — whom officials declined to identify, citing privacy concerns — showed no symptoms when departing Liberia or during the flight, officials said. They said he developed symptoms last Wednesday after arriving in Dallas and was hospitalized Sunday at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas.
Texas health workers, aided by a CDC team dispatched Tuesday morning, have already begun identifying what they characterized as “a handful” of people who might have been exposed to the deadly disease. Those people will be monitored for 21 days. Anyone who contracts the virus will be hospitalized and isolated, and their movements and contacts will be investigated.
Ebola is spread only through direct contact with an infected person’s bodily fluids. A person is not contagious until they begin showing symptoms.
Thus officials do not believe passengers on the plane from Liberia were at risk of infection. The man had been screened for fever before boarding, which has become a regular practice in Liberia since the outbreak. He was not yet sick and infectious.
“There is zero risk of transmission on the plane,” Frieden said.
The CDC team includes experts in contagious diseases, lab work, hospital infection control and communications. They will help Texas workers trace the man’s movements, activities and close contacts in the days since arriving in this country.
Texas Health Services Commissioner David Lakey said there are no other suspected cases in Texas. The man remains in strict isolation at the Dallas hospital, which officials said is equipped to contain and care for infectious diseases.
The man originally sought care at the Dallas hospital Friday. He was admitted Sunday, having developed symptoms consistent with Ebola. By Tuesday, both the Texas state health department and the CDC had confirmed the diagnosis through lab tests.
Frieden stressed that while Ebola has a high fatality rate, it can be battled and stopped. It is not spread by causal contact or through the air, but through direct contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person or through exposure to objects such as needles that have been infected.
An infected person usually becomes sick within eight to 10 days, though symptoms can appear within two days or as many as 22. The symptoms usually include fever.
“Ebola can be scary. But there’s all the difference in the world between the U.S. and parts of Africa where Ebola is spreading,” Frieden said. “While it is not impossible that there could be additional cases associated with this patient in the coming weeks, I have no doubt we will contain this.”
Frieden declined to discuss the medical condition of the patient much beyond saying, “He is ill. He is in intensive care.”
Health officials said they believe the patient, who was visiting relatives in the U.S., did not have contact with many people other than the family members he was visiting.
Edward Goodman, the infectious disease expert at the Dallas hospital, offered assurances that the hospital has robust facilities and protocols to handle Ebola. In the past few weeks, the CDC has issued guidance to all U.S. hospitals, urging them to inquire of any patients whose symptoms are consistent with Ebola whether they have recently traveled to West Africa.
“We were well prepared for this crisis,” he said.
The CDC has also enhanced its surveillance and laboratory testing capacity, developed guidance and tools for health departments to conduct public health investigations, and provided guidance for flight crews, Emergency Medical Services units at airports, and Customs and Border Protection officers about reporting ill travelers to the CDC.
Atlanta has already hosted three Ebola patients who were flown to the U.S. after falling ill in Africa. The first two, a doctor and a missionary who were doing humanitarian work in Liberia, were successfully treated at Emory University Hospital and released. The third, who arrived Sept. 10, apparently remains hospitalized at Emory and under doctors’ care.
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