CDC: Protocol breach in treating Ebola patient

October 12, 2014 9:26 am

By The Associated Press

(AP) _ Texas health officials say a health care worker who provided hospital care for an Ebola patient who later died has tested positive for the virus and is in stable condition.

Dr. Daniel Varga, of the Texas Health Resource, says the worker was in full protective gear when they provided care to Thomas Eric Duncan during his second visit to Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital. Varga did not identify the worker and says the family of the worker has “requested total privacy.”

If the preliminary diagnosis is confirmed, it would be the first known case of the disease being contracted or transmitted in the U.S.

Varga says the health care worker reported a fever Friday night as part of a self-monitoring regimen required by the Atlanta-based Center for Disease Control.

A top federal health official says the Ebola diagnosis shows there was a clear breach of safety protocol. Dr. Tom Frieden, head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, says the worker had treated Duncan multiple times after the Liberian man was diagnosed.

Frieden tells CBS’ “Face the Nation” that all those who treated Duncan are now considered to be potentially exposed. Frieden couldn’t give an exact number.

Health care workers treating Duncan were to follow CDC protocol that included wearing protective gear. Among the things CDC will investigate is how the workers took off that gear because removing it incorrectly can lead to a contamination.

Duncan died Wednesday in Dallas.