A patient with Ebola-like symptoms has been admitted at Howard University hospital in Washington, D.C. Friday, reports USA Today.
Spokesperson Kerry-Ann Hamilton says the patient, who recently traveled to Nigeria, is in stable condition and that the hospital is following all proper infection control protocols.
If the patient’s symptoms prove to be the Ebola virus, it will make him or her the second documented case in the U.S. The first, Thomas E. Duncan, was found in Dallas, where health officials have begun questioning and examining some 100 people who might have had contact with him, reports The New York Times.
Those being called-in include family members, medical staff that encountered Duncan at the Texas hospital, and people he may have interacted during his from Liberia to Texas — including a layover in Brussels and Washington, D.C.
A spokeswoman for the Dallas County Health and Human Services Department said the list would “constantly evolve” as they continue to speak to and locate those initially contacted.
The report goes onto mention resident’s uneasiness over the Dallas hospital’s first response to Duncan, who was sent home with antibiotics despite mentioning that he had just returned from Liberia. It wasn’t until his family came to his aid that he got the proper help.
“I called CDC to get some actions taken because I was concerned for his life and he was not getting the appropriate care,” Josephus Weeks, the nephew, told NBC.
The director of the CDC, Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, told the Times they are looking into Weeks’ claims, adding that they were doing what they could to help minimize the risk of the virus spreading in Dallas. “The plain truth is we can’t make the risk zero until the outbreak is controlled in West Africa,” he said.