New York City Doctor Has Tested Positive for Ebola

Craig Spencer, MD, a 33-year-old emergency medicine physician at New York Hospital/Columbia-Presbyterian, was admitted to Bellevue Hospital Center in Manhattan where he has tested positive for Ebola.

Spencer returned 10 days ago from Guinea as a volunteer with Doctors without Borders. According to the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH), Dr Spencer had a fever and gastro-intestinal symptoms. Initially, the health department reported Dr Spencer has a temperature of 103 degrees, but Friday morning, the city health commissioner corrected this number and announced the patient had a fever of 100.3 degrees.

According to the DOHMH, the patient was “transported by a specially trained HAZ TAC unit wearing personal protective equipment” after officials consulted with the CDC.

This is New York City's first confirmed case. It is the fourth confirmed case in the United States.

Since Dr Spencer presented himself to the hospital, health officials have traced his contacts in case anyone else may be at risk. Currently, the patient's fiancee and 2 friends are all quarantined, although none have shown any symptoms of the virus.

According to the Associated Press, city officials outlined the days before Dr Spencer fell ill and reported that he went for a 3-mile jog, visited the High Line park, rode the subway, and took a taxi to a Brooklyn bowling alley. The city's health commissioner said Friday morning that the probability that the patient's subway rides could put others at risk of becoming infected are "close to nil." However, as a precaution, officials have closed the Brooklyn bowling alley and cordoned off Dr Spencer's Harlem apartment.

Dr Spencer arrived back in the United States on October 17, but did not exhibit any symptoms of the virus until the morning of October 23. Since returning, he has checked his temperature twice a day, which is part of the new monitoring measures for people arriving in the US from Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea. For a full 21 days after their arrival, travelers must report their temperature and the presence or absence of Ebola symptoms, such as diarrhea, stomach pain, or joint and muscle aches, to health officials daily. The majority of travelers entering the US from the 3 affected West African countries travel to Georgia, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Virginia, according to the CDC.

Meanwhile, the first Dallas nurse who tested positive for Ebola is in "good condition," while the second nurse tested negative for the virus on Thursday, just 9 days after she was first diagnosed.

Sources

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