The Center for Disease control on September 20 has confirmed that the first case of dreaded virus Ebola in United States has been identified. The patient, a man from Liberia, is in an undisclosed isolation center in Dallas where he is being treated after he contracted the disease. According to the Director of Center for Disease Control (CDC), Dr. Tom Frieden, the disease can be contained effectively as the patient is in strict isolation and there is no chance of contamination. Though the patient traveled to United States in a commercial airline, there may not be any risk of infection to other passengers.
Risk and containment – This assurance by the revered medic was reassuring for the citizens of America who feared an outbreak similar to Africa where the disease led to death of nearly 3000 patients. According to officials at the CDC, the patient was visiting family members in the United States and had been transported to the quarantine area by Dallas Fire-Rescue. To contain the disease and avoid an epidemic like situation, the crew which transported the patient is also under quarantine. On the orders of Texas’s Governor Rick Perry the state is on “Level 2- High Readiness” after confirmation of the Ebola case.
Details about the case – Though the patient had been checked for Ebola symptoms before boarding the flight for United States from Liberia he did not display any signs of the disease. Only four days after arrival into United he showed symptoms of Ebola on 24th September and was admitted to Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas on 28th September. Once his disease was confirmed he was moved to the hospital’s isolation unit and is being kept under observation since then. According to Dr. Tom Frieden, the hospital staff is aware about the disease and methods of control and the hospital itself has a “robust infection control system” in place.
To assuage outbreak fears among general public, the officials have stated that there are possibilities of people close to the patient contracting the disease. However they have assured that the CDC has adequate preventive medicines in place for effective containment and prevention of the disease in case an outbreak like situation occurs.