Officials in Texas say a second employee at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital has tested positive for the Ebola virus.
In a statement, the Texas Department of State Health said that the unidentified woman was part of the group that helped treat Thomas Eric Duncan after he was diagnosed with the disease at the end of September. Duncan fell victim to the virus last week.
Furthermore, the Texas Department of State Health revealed that the worker reported a fever yesterday:
The health care worker reported a fever Tuesday and was immediately isolated at the hospital.
Health officials have interviewed the latest patient to quickly identify any contacts or potential exposures, and those people will be monitored. The type of monitoring depends on the nature of their interactions and the potential they were exposed to the virus.
The worker was among those who took care of Thomas Eric Duncan after he was diagnosed with Ebola.
The preliminary Ebola test was run late Tuesday at the state public health laboratory in Austin, and results were received at about midnight.
Confirmatory testing on a separate specimen will be conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.
According to the Associated Press, the woman had been monitoring herself for symptoms and was isolated roughly 90 minutes after reporting the fever.
This latest development comes just days after Nina Pham, 26, tested positive for the disease. Pham was also part of the group that provided care for Duncan, and an investigation into whether a protocol breach was responsible for her contamination is underway.
The Centers for Disease Control has noted that every Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital worker who treated Duncan is at risk of contracting Ebola, while determining that the hospital was not prepared to deal with the deadly virus.
UPDATE: The second health care worker infected with the Ebola virus has been identified as Amber Vinson. In addition, it's being reported that Vinson flew from Cleveland to Dallas on Monday, just a day before she reported a fever.
Frontier Airlines has released a statement claiming that Vinson did not exhibit any signs of Ebola during the flight:
Frontier Airlines Statement pic.twitter.com/ZRAblSQbnt
— Brian Ries (@moneyries) October 15, 2014
Regardless, the airline has suspended service and is collaborating with the CDC to reach out to other passengers.
[via Associated Press and Gawker]

