UPDATE: 1:00 PM EST
A patient at Howard University in Washington D.C. is being evaluated for possible Ebola.
From NBC Washington:
The patient had traveled to Nigeria recently.
That person has been admitted to the hospital in stable condition, and is being isolated. The medical team is working with the CDC and other authorities to monitor the patient’s condition.
“In an abundance of caution, we have activated the appropriate infection control protocols, including isolating the patient,” said hospital spokesperson Kerry-Ann Hamilton in a statement. “Our medical team continues to evaluate and monitor progress in close collaboration with the CDC and the Department of Health.”
There have also been reports that an inmate in a Georgia jail is being evaluated for the virus:
BREAKING: Inmate at Cobb County Jail in GA being tested for Ebola. Man says he recently traveled to Africa, according to CNN affil, WSB.
— Victor Blackwell CNN (@VictorCNN) October 3, 2014
In Dallas, officials are reporting that 50 of 100 close contacts with the first man diagnosed with Ebola in the U.S. are being monitored daily. At least 10 are at ‘high risk’ of developing disease.
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Just days after health officials confirmed a man who traveled from Liberia to Dallas last month is the first person to be diagnosed with Ebola in the United States, an NBC news freelancer has tested positive for the deadly virus.
Ashoka Mukpo, 33, will be flown back to the U.S. from Liberia for treatment. Mukpo was hired Tuesday to be a second cameraman for NBC News Chief Medical Editor and Correspondent Dr. Nancy Snyderman. He is the fifth American to be diagnosed with the almost always deadly virus since the largest outbreak of Ebola in history began earlier this year.
From NBC:
Mukpo came down with symptoms on Wednesday, feeling tired and achy. As part of a routine temperature check, he discovered he was running a slight fever. He immediately quarantined himself and sought medical advice. On Thursday morning, Mukpo went to a Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) treatment center to be tested for the virus. The positive result came back just under 12 hours later.
In a phone interview with Matt Lauer on TODAY Friday, Snyderman said Mukpo “should have a very good prognosis.” She added: “The amount of virus in his body is low.”
[…]
“The doctors are optimistic about his prognosis,” Mukpo’s father, Mitchell Levy, said in a message to family and friends. Levy said his son, who also is a writer, “has been engaged with human rights work in West Africa for the last several years. When the Ebola outbreak occurred he felt compelled to return to Liberia to help shed light on how the crisis was being handled socially and politically.”
Three other members of the NBC team reporting on Ebola from Monrovia are said to be feeling fine and have not exhibited any symptoms of the virus.
In a note to staff, NBC News President Deborah Turness said: “We are doing everything we can to get him the best care possible. He will be flown back to the United States for treatment at a medical center that is equipped to handle Ebola patients.
“We are also taking all possible measures to protect our employees and the general public,” Turness added in the note. “The rest of the crew, including Dr. Nancy, are being closely monitored and show no symptoms or warning signs. However, in an abundance of caution, we will fly them back on a private charter flight and then they will place themselves under quarantine in the United States for 21 days — which is at the most conservative end of the spectrum of medical guidance.”
Meanwhile, the Liberian man who was diagnosed with Ebola in the U.S. is continuing treatment in Dallas. The family who hosted the man has been ordered to stay in their apartment by health officials, which by some reports has yet to be decontaminated.
A woman who has been confined to her Dallas apartment under armed guard after a man infected with Ebola stayed at her home, said she never imagined this could happen to her so far from disease-ravaged West Africa.
Louise Troh said Thursday that she is tired of being locked up and wants health authorities to decontaminate her home.
The confinement order, which also bans visitors, was imposed after the family failed to comply with a request to stay home, according to Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins. Texas State Health Commissioner David Lakey said the order would ensure Troh, her 13-year-old son and two nephews can be closely monitored for signs of the disease.
Troh said she was waiting for health officials to collect sheets and towels that Thomas Eric Duncan used before he was rushed to the hospital and diagnosed with Ebola.
A hazardous material crew arrived to decontaminate the apartment Thursday evening but didn’t have the required permits to clean and remove hazardous waste, city spokesman Richard Hill said. The crew, contracted by the county and state, would return Friday to complete the job. The family must be relocated before the cleanup can begin, Hill said.
“The challenges are real,” CDC director Dr. Tom Frieden said Friday on ABC’s “Good Morning America” when asked about Troh’s situation. But, he said, “I am confident that we will get it sorted out today.”
He was asked on NBC’s “Today” show why the apartment wasn’t immediately cleaned.
“The details of that you’d have to refer to the folks in Dallas,” Frieden said Friday. “But this is, after all, the first time we’ve ever had a case of Ebola in the U.S. and there are issues to make sure that when things are removed that it is not going to be disposed of in any way that could potentially be a risk.”
For more information on Ebola and how it is transmitted, click here. We’ll keep you updated with the latest in the Ebola crisis.
SOURCE: NBC, AP | PHOTO CREDIT: Getty | VIDEO SOURCE: News Inc.
