The Centers for Disease Control has confirmed the first patient diagnosed with Ebola in the United States is being treated at a hospital in Dallas after becoming ill several days after returning from a trip to western Africa:
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has confirmed the first case of Ebola that’s been diagnosed in the United States.
“An individual traveling from Liberia has been diagnosed with Ebola in the United States,” Thomas Frieden, director of the CDC, said in a conference call Tuesday afternoon.
This person left Liberia on Sept. 19 and arrived in the U.S. the following day. The person had no symptoms when they arrived, but began developing symptoms several days after arriving in the United States.
“The bottom line here is that I have no doubt that we will control this importation, or this case of Ebola, so that it does not spread widely in this country,” he said. “It is certainly possible that someone who had contact with this individual could develop Ebola in the coming weeks. But there is no doubt in my mind that we will stop it here.”
Health officials are going to work to identify everyone who may have been exposed to this patient, Frieden said. They will be watched for three weeks to see if any symptoms emerge.
“Remember, Ebola does not spread from someone who’s not infectious,” Frieden said. “It does not spread from someone who does not have a fever or other symptoms.”
David Lakey, head of the Texas Department of Health Services, said during the same call the state’s laboratory in Austin, Tex., was certified last month to do Ebola testing. That laboratory received a blood sample from the patient on Tuesday morning and confirmed it was Ebola shortly after 1 p.m., he said.
Health officials speaking on Tuesday repeatedly stressed that Ebola does not spread easily.
“Ebola is not transmitted by the air,” Edward Goodman, the hospital epidemiologist at Texas Health Presybterian Hospital Dallas, said during the call. “It is not an airborne infection.”
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