Second confirmed Ebola case in Dallas

Good day all. There has been a second confirmed case of Ebola in Dallas, and it isn’t one of the people that were in the apartment with the late Thomas Duncan. It’s one of the medical people who treated him.

This is very concerning to people, not to mention outright terrifying to the person who has contracted the virus. They are doing followup tests to confirm their findings of course. Still, this was someone who was doing everything correctly and still caught the disease. Here are the details from Fox News:

A health care worker at a Dallas hospital tested positive for Ebola in a preliminary test, the Texas Department of State Health Services said in a statement early Sunday. The health care worker at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital, who has not been identified, provided care for Thomas Eric Duncan, the first Ebola patient in the United States, who died last week.

Now, we don’t need to know the name of the new patient. I have no doubt that his or her family are going out of their minds with worry and they don’t need a clown car full of media types unloading in their front yard.

If the preliminary diagnosis is confirmed, it would be the first known case of the disease being contracted or transmitted in the U.S.

We all expected someone else to catch this disease, but the betting was on one of the people that Mr. Hunter was with in that Dallas apartment, not someone in the hospital.

“The health care worker is a heroic person who provided care to Mr. Duncan,” Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins said at a press conference Sunday morning. “We expected it was possible that a second person could contract the virus. Contingency plans were put into place.”

Ok, first I agree that the healthcare worker is a hero, however I do have a question regarding this spokesman. Why is a county judge providing information and not someone who is actually in the medical field? I would prefer to be informed by someone who has a history of working in an ambulance, not chasing after them. Perhaps they brought out a judge due to liability issues?

Jenkins said he wanted to stress Ebola cannot be contracted unless one comes into contact with the bodily fluids of an Ebola victim.

“You cannot contract it by walking by people on the streets,” he said. “There is nothing about this case that changes that basic premise of science.”

And yet, a person in full gear who knew what he or she was dealing with still caught Ebola.

Dr. Daniel Varga, of the Texas Health Resource, said the worker was in full protective gear when they provided care to Duncan during his second visit to the hospital. Varga said the health care worker reported a fever Friday night as part of a self-monitoring regimen required by the CDC.

If I understand how Ebola works, at the point the healthcare worker started showing symptoms, he or she was then capable of passing on the virus. So, this could mean that this person’s family is now at risk. We’ve already had one scare with Deputy Sheriff in Dallas who had to go into the apartment that Thomas Duncan was in. He came down with something and was quarantined. Thankfully, it looks like he doesn’t have Ebola. Meanwhile, they are continuing the decontamination of the apartment complex where Thomas Hunter was staying.

Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings said the Dallas Fire Department’s rescue hazmat team has decontaminated any opens areas of the health care worker’s apartment complex. Rawlings said officials have knocked on every door within a block of the apartment and have spoken with every person that came to the door. Reverse 911 calls have been made to residents within four blocks of the apartment complex and printed materials have been left at each door, he said.

“Police are standing by to make sure no one enters that apartment complex,” he said.

You want my opinion? Burn the entire complex to the ground to make sure it’s clean. That or take and nuke Dallas from orbit, just to be sure. While they’re at it, torch the healthcare worker’s car as well.

A team has decontaminated and secured the vehicle the health care worker drove to the hospital. Rawlings said hazmat units will go into the worker’s apartment and clean up the interior Sunday.

“We had this plan in place last week so when we got this phone call, which we thought we might get, we put an action team in place,” Rawlings 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 Texas Department of State Health Services. “We are broadening our team in Dallas and working with extreme diligence to prevent further spread.”

Well, I’m glad you had a plan in place, and I hope that this person can throw off the illness. Still, this person was in a full hazmat suit and still caught Ebola. This is supposed to be a virus that isn’t that easily transmitted, so what happened here?

The World Health Organization says blood, feces and vomit are the most infectious fluids, while the virus is found in saliva mostly once patients are severely ill and the whole live virus has never been culled from sweat.

Has anyone thought that perhaps this variant might have mutated and is now more easily transmissible? Viruses have a nasty habit of doing that you know. Since the Government has been less than forthcoming with any useful information, people are going to assume the worst. With the news that a Dallas healthcare worker caught Ebola from Thomas Duncan, a trained medical professional in full hazmat gear, no one is going to believe a thing the CDC or any other government agency says regarding the ways Ebola is passed along.

It is my sincerest hope that the followup testing being done for this person shows that all he or she has is a case of the flu. If it is confirmed that it is Ebola, then I hope that the person is able to fight it off and fully recover. I also want that blithering idiot of a president, Barack Obola Obama to stop any further flights coming in from Africa until this plague is contained. He won’t of course. He’s to busy working on his putting.

Thatisall

~The Angry Webmaster~