An American nurse who had been exposed to the deadly Ebola virus after volunteering to help treat patients in Sierra Leone is now being monitored at a facility in Bethesda, Maryland.
According to a report from Wbaltv, the still unidentified nurse was admitted to the National Institutes of Health Thursday afternoon even if the patient has not tested positive for the disease.
"The patient is an American nurse who was volunteering services in an Ebola treatment unit in Sierra Leone. Out of an abundance of caution, the patient has been admitted to the NIH Clinical Center's special clinical studies unit that is specifically designed to provide high-level isolation capabilities and is staffed by infectious diseases and critical care specialists," the WBaltv reported citing an NIH statement. "The unit staff is trained in strict infection control practices optimized to prevent spread of potentially transmissible agents such as Ebola."
It was emphasized by Maryland Health Secretary Dr. Josh Sharfstein in the WBaltv report that the patient does not exactly have the disease but had been exposed to the virus.
Associated Press noted that the NIH Clinical Center, which is near Washington D.C., is also where another nurse named Nina Pham, who contracted the disease while caring for Ebola patient Thomas Eric Duncan, was treated. It also said that the unnamed nurse first came from an overseas location before being admitted in the facility.
Wbaltv noted that the new patient was not transported via the Frederick Municipal Airport just like with the previous patients but was handled by the Dulles International Airport in Virginia as it has been named as one of the "approved airports in the US to handle patient transfers to NIH," quoting Mayor Randy McClement's statement.
According to the latest data provided by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a total of 6,388 deaths have been recorded out of the 17,942 cases as of Dec. 7. Liberia still has the most number of deaths at 3,177 out of the 7,719 recorded cases and 2,830 laboratory confirmed cases.
Sierra Leone, meanwhile, has the most number of cases at 7,897 and laboratory confirmed cases at 6,375. Death toll in the area is placed at 1,768. Guinea, on the other hand, recorded 1,428 deaths out of the 2,292 total cases and 2,051 laboratory confirmed cases.
Meanwhile, eight deaths were recorded in Nigeria out of the 20 total cases in the country. In the US, one death was recorded out of the four laboratory confirmed cases. In Mali, six deaths were recorded out of the eight total cases. Spain and Senegal, meanwhile, both recorded at least one case but no death has ever been recorded in both countries.
The symptoms of Ebola are fever, severe headache, muscle pain, weakness, fatigue, diarrhea, vomiting, abdominal or stomach pain, and unexplained hemorrhage or bleeding or bruising. CDC said these symptoms may appear from two to 21 days after exposure to the virus. The average is eight to 10 days. It added that those patients who recover from the infection develop antibodies that last for at least 10 years.
- Contribute to this Story:
- Send us a tip
- Send us a photo or video
- Suggest a correction
