The deadly Ebola virus has been contracted by someone inside the United States for the first time. A nurse who had worn protective gear during her "extensive contact" at a Dallas hospital with an Ebola patient who died tested positive during a preliminary blood test, officials said Sunday. The woman had on a gown, gloves, mask and a shield during her multiple visits with Thomas Eric Duncan, but there was a breach in protocol, health officials said. The patient is a nurse at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas, an official who is familiar with the case told CNN. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta conducted testing on the blood sample, and confirmed the results Sunday, marking the first known transmission of Ebola in the United States and the second diagnosis in the country.
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A "close contact" of the nurse is being monitored, says CDC
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The worker helped care for an Ebola patient multiple times, CDC director says
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He says there was a breach in protocol and his agency is investigating
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Nurse was wearing protective gear when she helped care for Thomas Eric Duncan
"I think we've always expected that there may be another individual who will come down with the @placeholder from the transmission of this one particular person, and we always felt that it was going to likely be one of his close contacts or one of the health care workers, because that's the way this virus works," Dr. Frank Esper said.
Because @placeholder's incubation period can last up to 21 days, the health nurse's contacts will have to be monitored for three weeks.