Ohio Dept. of Health: Texas health worker with Ebola visited Akron
By MIKE STOBBE
WANE.com
October 15, 2014
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WKBN) – Wednesday, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention notified state health officials that the second health care worker in Dallas diagnosed with Ebola last night visited family in Akron from October 8-13.
Ohio is working with the CDC and Summit County health officials to identify people who may have been in close contact with the health care worker and implement quarantine as necessary. In addition, Ohio is working with the airline to identify individuals on her return flight to Dallas.
“The Ohio Department of Health has been working since July on its preparedness plan in the event that Ohio ever got positive case in the state, and we’re confident in our efforts to respond efficiently and effectively,” said Dr. Mary DiOrio, State Epidemiologist.
Health officials are alerting airline passengers who were on the same flight as a Texas nurse who was diagnosed with Ebola the next day. The 132 passengers were on Frontier Airlines Flight 1143 from Cleveland to Dallas-Fort Worth on Monday.
The hospital worker was involved in the care of a Liberian man who died of Ebola last week at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas.The airplane’s crew said the nurse had no symptoms of Ebola during the flight. But the next morning she developed a fever and on Tuesday night tested positive for Ebola.
Infected Ebola patients are not considered contagious until they have symptoms. But the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is asking the passengers to call the health agency so they can be monitored.
The flight landed in Dallas at 8:16 p.m. Monday, stayed there overnight, and underwent a thorough cleaning before returning to service the next day. The cleaning was consistent with CDC guidelines, according to a Frontier Airlines statement released by CDC officials.
The Rest…HERE
