The final chapter of the weeks-long Ebola saga in Texas that began with the misdiagnosis of a Liberian man in Dallas who died of the disease closes – at least for now – on Friday.
The last person on the city’s watch list of people possibly exposed to the disease – an unidentified hospital worker who handled one of the Texas Ebola patients’ medical waste on 17 October – is set to be cleared by the day’s end. In total, 177 people who had direct or indirect contact with one of the three patients diagnosed with Ebola in Texas were monitored by federal, state and local health officials for symptoms of the deadly disease that has killed more than 5,000 people, mostly in the west African nations of Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone.
“We’re happy to reach this milestone, but our guard stays up,” Dr David Lakey, commissioner of the Texas department of state health services said in a statement. “We reached this point through teamwork and meticulous monitoring, and we’ll continue to be vigilant to protect Texas from Ebola.”
Thomas Eric Duncan came to the US on 20 September to be reunited with his fiancee, Louise Troh, the mother of his son, Karsiah. Their jubilant reunion was disrupted days after his arrival by the onset of symptoms of the disease tearing apart his native country. Troh took her ailing fiance to Texas Health Presbyterian hospital in Dallas.
Ebola had yet to be discovered in the US, and without knowing it, the medical team who treated Duncan on his first hospital visit sent the US’s patient zero home with a course of antibiotics.
Troh, who nursed Duncan in her apartment while he suffered from diarrhea and a blistering fever in the days leading up to his diagnosis, was among the first group to be quarantined for a 21-day period, which is believed to be the maximum length of time it takes someone exposed to the virus to display symptoms.
Under quarantine,Troh was forced to grieve in isolation when Duncan died on 8 October. Upon her release, she said in a statement: “We have lost so much, but we have our lives and we have our faith in God, which always gives us hope.”
The list also included healthcare workers who treated Duncan on his initial visit to the hospital as well as the EMS crew who drove the Liberian man to the hospital and the nearly 70-person medical team who treated him on his second visit.
In the hospital’s response to Duncan’s diagnosis, two nurses at Texas Health Presbyterian hospital who cared for him when he was violently ill – Nina Pham and Amber Joy Vinson – contracted the disease. Vinson tested positive for Ebola a day after she flew on a commercial flight from Cleveland, Ohio, to Dallas with a low-grade temperature. Officials also recently cleared the passengers being monitored in Texas after traveling on the same flight with Amber Vinson, one of two nurses diagnosed with Ebola after caring for Duncan.
Both nurses were transported to specialty hospitals in Maryland and Georgia respectively for care, and have since recovered. Their close contacts were also monitored.
“These two courageous nurses, and so many others, put the needs of a patient first and valiantly worked to save the life of a man who faced, and ultimately lost, his battle with this disease,”the CEO of Texas Health Resources, Barclay Berdan, said in a statement. “Today we remember and honor him, and his family remains in our hearts and prayers.”
“We emerge from this experience both humbled and empowered with a new strength of purpose. We are committed to using what we have learned to advance our mission and vision in the communities we are privileged to serve.”
Since their diagnoses, no additional cases of the disease have been discovered in Texas.
“Thanksgiving comes early to Dallas County because tomorrow we are Ebola-free,” said Dallas County judge Clay Jenkins in a statement. “It’s a time to reflect on the sacrifices of our hometown healthcare heroes and the city, county, and school district employees that worked so hard, along with our state and federal partners, to keep us safe during the Ebola crisis.”
