Texas Health Care Worker Tests Positive For Ebola

An American health worker in Texas, who provided care for the first person diagnosed with Ebola in the country has tested positive for the virus in a preliminary examination, an health official said on Sunday.

The most recent Ebola victim reported a low-grade fever on Friday night at the Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital and was isolated and referred for testing, the Texas Department of State Health Services said.

In a statement, the TDSHS said “We knew a second case could be a reality, and we’ve been preparing for this possibility,” said Dr. David Lakey, commissioner of the health service.

Liberian, Thomas Eric Duncan, the first person diagnosed with Ebola in the United States, died in an isolation ward of the Dallas hospital on Oct. 8, 11 days after being admitted.

The U.S. Government has since ordered five airports to start screening passengers from West Africa for fever.

The number of people known to have died in the worst Ebola outbreak on record has risen to 4,033 out of 8,399 cases in seven countries, the World Health Organization said on Friday.

Liberia has been the worst affected country with 2,316 victims, followed by 930 in Sierra Leone, 778 in Guinea, eight in Nigeria and one in the United States, WHO said.

Demonstrating high competence in the way its Ebola containment was handled, Nigeria has overcome the Ebola Virus Disease and has not reported new cases since August 31.