US hospital bungled report of Africa travel in Ebola case
October 02, 2014 04:05
The first person diagnosed with Ebola in the United States initially told a nurse he had traveled in Africa but was sent home anyway, raising concerns about US preparedness for the spread of the deadly virus.
The man, whose identity and nationality have not been released by health authorities, flew from Liberia, the hardest hit nation in West Africa's deadly Ebola outbreak, to Texas to visit family.
An apparent miscommunication among hospital staff left the man in the open community and contagious for four days, and he even came in contact with schoolchildren before he was finally isolated in a hospital, officials said Wednesday.
"I know that parents are being extremely concerned about that development," said Texas Governor Rick Perry.
"These children have been identified and they are being monitored and the disease cannot be transmitted before having any symptoms."
He arrived in Texas on September 20 and did not exhibit symptoms until September 24, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention chief Tom Frieden said Tuesday.
He sought medical care on the 26th, but was sent home because the medical team "felt clinically it was a low-grade common viral disease," said Mark Lester, executive vice president of Texas Health Resources.
"He volunteered that he had traveled from Africa in response to the nurse operating the checklist and asking that question," Lester added.
"Regretfully, that information was not fully communicated throughout the full team."
He was returned via ambulance to the Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas on September 28, and was placed in strict isolation.
The patient is currently in serious but stable condition, a hospital spokeswoman said.Z
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