– Good condition –
Duncan is thought to have contracted the disease while still in Liberia. He was the first person diagnosed with Ebola in the United States – and the first case diagnosed outside Africa.
Pham was the first person to contract Ebola in the United States. She was in “good condition,” the hospital said. Pham also released a short statement saying she was “doing well” and thanking people for their support.
The world’s largest outbreak of Ebola is spreading quickly across West Africa and has killed more than 4,000 people since the beginning of this year.
The virus is spread through close contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person.
Those who are sickened with Ebola usually begin to show symptoms like fever and aches within eight to 10 days, but the total incubation period ranges from two to 21 days.
The World Health Organization said the death rate in the Africa outbreak has climbed to 70 percent.
Several Americans have contracted Ebola in West Africa and have been airlifted back to the United States for treatment, though they have been cared for at special biocontainment units in Nebraska and Georgia. No health care workers were contaminated with Ebola in the course of their care.
A major US nursing union has protested the CDC’s assertion that a breach of protocol was to blame for Pham’s infection.
Health authorities have been unable to identify a specific problem with the way Pham put on or removed her protective gear, which included a face shield, mask, glove and gown, but Pham is assisting the CDC investigation, agency director Tom Frieden said Tuesday.
Frieden said the agency is taking series of new measures to boost hospitals’ preparedness, including sending to Dallas experts who have managed to control Ebola outbreaks in Africa over the past two decades.
The CDC is improving procedures to protect health care workers at the Dallas hospital, and providing health workers there and elsewhere with opportunities for more training.
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