Thread: Officials Looking Into Possible Ebola Case In New York City

Officials Looking Into Possible Ebola Case In New York City


Sources: Doctor Who Returned From Guinea Went Bowling In Brooklyn On Wednesday
October 23, 2014 5:46 PM

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — Officials on Thursday were looking into a possible Ebola case in New York City.
Sources tell CBS 2 EMS crews picked up Dr. Craig Spencer just after noon Thursday.

Sources told 1010 WINS he was rushed from a building on West 147th Street.

“Today, EMS HAZ TAC Units transferred to Bellevue Hospital a patient who presented a fever and gastrointestinal symptoms,” New York City officials said in a statement. “The patient is a health care worker who returned to the U.S. within the past 21 days from one of the three countries currently facing the outbreak of this virus.”

Spencer, who is a physician in his 30s and works with Doctors Without Borders, came back a week ago from Guinea, where he is believed to have been treating Ebola patients.

“A person in New York City, who recently worked with Doctors Without Borders in one of the Ebola-affected countries in West Africa, notified our office this morning to report having developed a fever,” Doctors Without Borders said in a statement. “As per the specific guidelines that Doctors Without Borders provides its staff on their return from Ebola assignments, the individual engaged in regular health monitoring and reported this development immediately. While at this stage there is no confirmation that the individual has contracted Ebola, Doctors Without Borders, in the interest of public safety and in accordance with its protocols, immediately notified the New York City Department of Health & Mental Hygiene, which is directly managing the individual’s care.”

Dr. Craig Spencer (credit: LinkedIn.com)

The EMS crews responded to Spencer’s home wore “F Suits,” which are Level D Hazmat gear that covers the entire body, CBS 2 reported.

They stayed with the patient in the back of the ambulance, sources said, so as not to risk possible contamination of the front cabin. A third EMS paramedic drove to Bellevue Hospital.

“After consulting with the hospital and the CDC, DOHMH has decided to conduct a test for the Ebola virus because of this patient’s recent travel history, pattern of symptoms and past work,” city officials said in the statement. “DOHMH and HHC are also evaluating the patient for other causes of illness, as these symptoms can also be consistent with salmonella, malaria, or the stomach flu.”

Spencer remained at Bellevue Hospital Thursday afternoon, one of eight hospitals in New York state with specialized Ebola units.

Mayor Bill de Blasio said at a news conference that Spencer has been “very communicative and very precise” with health officials.

“The patient is in good shape, and has gone into a great deal of detail with our personnel as to his actions in the last few days, so we have a lot to work with,” de Blasio said at a news conference.

He emphasized that people should not panic.

“The important thing to remember here is until we have full information, we can’t draw conclusions, so we want to be careful not to make conclusions. So we want to be careful not to make assumptions until all the testing is done,” de Blasio said. “I also want to emphasize, in the midst of what is obviously a crisis that causes deep concern, we’ve seen some important evidence in the last week of the capacity of modern medicine to address this crisis.”

Ebola test results are expected within 12 hours, officials said. Mayor de Blasio said they might arrive “very late” Thursday night.

Whether the results are positive or negative, they will be sent to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta for possible confirmation, CBS 2 Political Reporter Marcia Kramer reported.

“As a further precaution, beginning today, the Health Department’s team of disease detectives immediately began to actively trace all of the patient’s contacts to identify anyone who may be at potential risk,” officials said. “The Health Department staff has established protocols to identify, notify, and, if necessary, quarantine any contacts of Ebola cases.”

Officials added that health care workers treating Spencer will be doing so “while following the utmost safety guidelines and protocols.”

Doctors and nurses will treat Spencer wearing specialized gear. Patient waste will be specially handled to prevent contamination.

“The chances of the average New Yorker contracting Ebola are extremely slim,” officials said. “Ebola is spread by directly touching the bodily fluids of an infected person. You cannot be infected simply be being near someone who has Ebola.”
Officials removed the door to Spencer’s building when they arrived on the scene, a witness told CBS 2.

Sources said Spencer went bowling last night in Williamsburg and took an Uber car to get there and back, 1010 WINS’ Carol D’Auria reported.

Officials removed the door from Dr. Spencer’s building after arriving on scene. (credit: Lou Young/CBS 2)

“I want to assure everyone in Northern Manhattan that City, State and Federal public health authorities are responding with the highest possible level of urgency and marshaling every resource at their disposal to respond to this possible case. I want to reiterate that this has not yet been confirmed as an Ebola case but every precaution is being taken as if it were,” said City Council Member Mark Levine (D-7th), who represents Spencer’s district. “For more information on Ebola prevention or if you think you’ve come in contact with the patient, please call 311.”

CBS 2’s Dr. Max Gomez emphasized that New Yorkers should remain calm. It has not yet been determined whether Spencer has Ebola, and Doctors Without Borders said he followed trained self-monitoring guidelines and reported himself to the Health Department as soon as he came down with a fever Friday morning.

Spencer would not have been contagious until he developed symptoms, Gomez said. Further, Ebola is not an airborne virus like a cold or the flu – it is only transmitted through bodily fluids such as blood, vomit, and feces.

Even if Spencer had some slight symptoms Wednesday night when he was out and about, he would have had to bleed or vomit to have any chance of spreading the virus – and then someone would have had to touch the bodily fluid and rub it into an open sore or his or her eyes, nose or mouth, Gomez said.

“The risk here is as close to zero as you can get,” Gomez said.

http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2014/10/...new-york-city/

Doctor Isolated at New York City Hospital Tests Positive for Ebola
ABC News - 1 minute ago

Complete article from above.

Doctor Isolated at New York City Hospital Tests Positive for Ebola

Oct 23, 2014, 8:36 PM ET
By SYDNEY LUPKIN, JOSH MARGOLIN and BEN CANDEA


Possible Ebola Patient Taken to NYC Hospital

A preliminary Ebola test has come back positive for a doctor who recently traveled from West Africa and is being isolated at a New York City Hospital, according to an official briefed on the case.

The doctor, who has been identified as Dr. Craig Allen Spencer by New York government sources, was placed in an isolation unit today at Bellevue Hospital in Manhattan after reporting Ebola-like symptoms. He had a fever and gastrointestinal symptoms when he was transferred to Bellevue, according to the hospital.

Spencer was working for Doctors Without Borders, according to the organization, which did not identify him by name but said he had a fever this morning.

Law enforcement sources said the 33-year-old Spencer recently returned from Guinea, one of the West African countries currently battling an Ebola outbreak. He traveled through Brussels, Belgium, and arrived at JFK Airport, law enforcement sources said. He arrived back in the United States on Oct. 17.

NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio said at an earlier news conference that Spencer only had symptoms for "a very brief period of time" and only had contact with "very few" people. He described the patient as "in good shape."

The city Health Department has already started to trace the patient's contacts, according to the hospital. His fiancee is under quarantine at Bellevue Hospital, although she has no symptoms of the virus.

NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center described Spencer as a "dedicated humanitarian ... who went to an area of medical crisis to help a desperately underserved population."

Brendan McDermid/Reuters

PHOTO: Members of the New York City Department of Health exit the building of a Health Care worker who is suspected to have Ebola in in the Harlem section of New York, Oct. 23, 2014.

Spencer's apartment was sealed off after it was cleared. Since he tested positive, a team will decontaminate his apartment in the Harlem section of New York.

Spencer is the fourth patient to be diagnosed with Ebola in the United States. Thomas Eric Duncan, a Liberian national, tested positive for the virus at the end of September in Dallas, where he infected two nurses who cared for him: Nina Pham and Amber Vinson.
Duncan died on Oct. 8, shortly before the nurses tested positive for the virus.

Vinson has been declared virus-free, her family announced Wednesday. Pham's condition has been upgraded from "fair" to "good."
Health officials decided to test the New York City patient for Ebola because of the patient's work, symptoms and travel history, according to the Bellevue Hospital statement. Bellevue is the designated hospital for the diagnosis and treatment of Ebola patients in New York City.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention may already be assembling a team, though it won't be deployed until the patient tests positive for Ebola, according to a CDC spokesperson. A CDC team was already en route to Dallas the day Duncan tested positive for Ebola, the agency said.

Get real-time updates as this story unfolds. To start, just "star" this story in ABC News' phone app. Download ABC News for iPhone here or ABC News for Android here. To be notified about our live weekend digital reports, tap here.

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/doctor-isolated-york-city-hospital-tests-positive-ebola/story?id=26406430

Ebola Hits the Big Apple: Doctor Returns from Africa, Goes Bowling, Dines Out, Takes Public Transit

By Victoria Taft (57 mins ago) | Health, Nation, Politics, Science

Video at the page link:

Dr. Craig Spencer was a volunteer with Doctors Without Borders in the Ebola plagued nation of Guinea. He even released a photo of himself gowned up in his hazmat suit, showing he was being careful while treating his stricken patients. But something odd happened when he got back to the US: The Ebola doctor stopped being so careful.

Jessica Jones @Jessica777Jones Follow Breaking: Fourth US Case of Ebola Confirmed in New York http://bit.ly/1D46PRS #InfoWars #tcot #tlot
10:24 PM - 23 Oct 2014


Thursday, he found out he had Ebola. The New York Daily News reported:

Bradd Jaffy @BraddJaffy
Follow
Tomorrow's Daily News plays it straight. Your move, NY Post.
10:22 PM - 23 Oct 2014

New York health officials, in a Thursday night news conference, reported Spencer had been checking his own temperature in the last ten days since he came back to New York City and his Harlem apartment.
He reported feeling sluggish on Tuesday, but by Thursday he spiked a 103 degree fever and called the Health Department.



Dr. Craig Spencer Image credit: UK Daily MailProblem: while he was watching himself for symptoms he apparently, though feeling sluggish, decided to spend Wednesday night going bowling with his live-in girlfriend. He took an Uber car both ways. Today, the UK Daily Mail reports one of Williamsburg’s bowling alleys was closed.

Leah...Geek @LeahR77 Follow I think "Self Quarantine" should be redefined to not include Bowling, Dining Out, Riding Public Transportation, Parties, Movies.. #Ebola
11:11 PM - 23 Oct 2014

The UK Daily Mail also reports Spencer notified Doctors Without Borders of his symptoms Thursday morning and the group issued a statement:

As per the specific guidelines that Doctors Without Borders provides its staff on their return from Ebola assignments, the individual engaged in regular health monitoring and reported this development immediately.

In a news conference, New York health officials, the Mayor and Governor tried to tamp down fears about others becoming infected, pointing out Ebola is transferred only through contact with bodily fluids.

TwitchyTeam ✔ @TwitchyTeam Follow ABC News' chief medical editor declares New York City doctor with Ebola a 'hero' http://bit.ly/1rpNPrv
10:23 PM - 23 Oct 2014

ABC News' chief medical editor declares New York City doctor with...

Those who shared his subway car might disagree.

TwitchyTeam @TwitchyTeam

ABC News’ chief medical editor seemed more concerned about the doctor’s public image than the health risks to the public:
But others are left wondering: If the doctor cared so much about Ebola patients, why was he careless about infecting others when he came back to the U.S.?



Meantime, New Yorkers and others on social media are fuming mad, while still poking fun at “E-bowl-a.” The New York health commissioner wasn’t too concerned about risk to those in his apartment:

Zeke Miller ✔ @ZekeJMiller Follow NYC health commish: "I see no reason for the tenants in the apartment building to be concerned"
10:18 PM - 23 Oct 2014

But some are concerned about reports regarding the Ebola virus:

Lori Hendry @Lrihendry Follow It has been reported that Ebola can survive on surfaces for an extended period of time. NYC Dr went bowling & traveled around city for a Wk
10:24 PM - 23 Oct 2014

This may not be a bad idea:

Kibbutz Owl @frantictrader Follow Dr. #Ebola went bowling. Why not just spray him with that spray that kills everything on the bowling shoes you rent for 95 cents. #NYCEbola
10:55 PM - 23 Oct 2014

This Twitter user couldn’t help but point out the obvious:

Shayoni Mitra @ShayoniMitra Follow Lives in Harlem, bowls in Williamsburg, runs only three miles because he's a little tired, takes Uber. #hipsteralert #NYCEbola
10:57 PM - 23 Oct 2014 Manhattan, NY, United States

And this Twitter user asks the one question many are asking:

krisirisi @krisirisi Follow what i know for sure, after 30+ years on this earth... is that u know when ur getting sick. u don't just wake up w/ a temp #NYCEbola
10:57 PM - 23 Oct 2014

It seemed like even Piers Morgan was concerned about it, and had a helpful suggestion:

Piers Morgan ✔ @piersmorgan Follow You treat Ebola patients in West Africa & you fly back to America - you do 21-day mandatory quarantine. Period. End.
10:24 PM - 23 Oct 2014

Spencer and his girlfriend are now quarantined at Bellevue Hospital in New York.


http://www.ijreview.com/2014/10/1918...ook-uber-cars/

NY Ebola Patient May Have Infected Entire Bowling Alley

Doctor went bowling after trip to Africa

by Infowars.com | October 23, 2014



A doctor who spent time in Guinea spent time bowling with friends before being transported to a hospital with Ebola-like symptoms.

http://www.infowars.com/ny-ebola-pat...bowling-alley/