Thread: Texas hospital worker quarantined on cruise ship in Caribbean

H2 Note: There are 5,057 from all over the world on this same ship ...

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Texas hospital worker quarantined on cruise ship in Caribbean

By Lindsey Bever and Fred Barbash October 17 at 2:32 AM
Updated and corrected

A Texas health-care worker who “may have” handled lab specimens from Ebola victim Thomas Eric Duncan has been isolated on board a Carnival cruise ship in the Caribbean. The worker has shown no symptoms of the disease, according to Carnival, which said it is in close contact with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). A Carnival spokeswoman said the guest, who was not named, will remain on board in voluntary isolation until the ship returns to its home port of Galveston on Sunday.

The Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital employee and a partner boarded the ship Oct. 12 in Galveston, Tex., before the CDC updated the requirement for active monitoring, the State Department said in a statement. Although the worker is healthy, the U.S. government is working with the cruise line to get the ship back to America “out of an abundance of caution.”

The employee, who has not been named, did not come into direct contact with Duncan, the first patient diagnosed with Ebola in the United States. However, he or she may have been exposed to his clinical specimens, the State Department said.

“It has been 19 days since the passenger may have processed” Duncan’s fluid samples, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said in a statement early Friday morning. “The cruise line has actively supported CDC’s efforts to speak with the individual, whom the cruise ship’s medical doctor has monitored and confirmed was in good health. Following this examination, the hospital employee and traveling partner have voluntarily remained isolated in a cabin.”

During a House subcommittee hearing on Thursday, Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Thomas Frieden outlined how his agency is responding to the threat of Ebola, emphasizing the need to stop the virus "at the source." Here are key moments from that hearing. (Sarah Parnass and Ashleigh Joplin/The Washington Post)

Belizean news reports stated that the cruise ship Carnival Magic was offshore after the government of Belize learned that a U.S. hospital worker on board may have been exposed to Ebola and that the Belize Coast Guard was deployed to prevent anyone from leaving the ship. The government of Belize assured its citizens that the health-care professional “never set foot in Belize.”

A Carnival spokeswoman, however, said the ship made its scheduled visit to Belize Thursday. “Passengers were free to disembark there for the day other than the guest and her traveling companion who are in voluntary isolation.”

In its own statement Thursday, the the Belize government said it “was contacted today by officers of the U.S. Government and made aware of a cruise ship passenger considered of very low risk for Ebola…. Nonetheless, out of an abundance of caution, the Government of Belize decided not to facilitate a U.S. request for assistance in evacuating the passenger through the Phillip Goldson International Airport.”

Duncan died at the Dallas hospital Oct. 8. It’s not certain what kind of lab specimen the hospital worker may have handled. Ebola is transmitted through bodily fluids such as vomit, urine, saliva, sweat, feces, breast milk and semen. And it’s not clear what, if any, protective gear he or she was wearing at the time of contact.

In this Oct. 8, 2014 file photo, a sign points to the entrance to the emergency room at Texas Health

Presbyterian Hospital Dallas, where U.S. Ebola patient Thomas Eric Duncan died. (AP Photo/LM Otero)
The announcement comes amid growing concerns after two nurses who cared for Duncan tested positive for Ebola. Nina Pham was diagnosed Oct. 11, just three days after Duncan died from the disease. She was flown

Thursday night to the National Institutes of Health hospital in Bethesda, Md., after delivering an upbeat but tearful greeting via video.

Amber Vinson was diagnosed with Ebola earlier this week — a day after she flew with a fever on a Frontier Airlines flight from Cleveland back to Dallas. Since then, the CDC has contacted the 132 passengers who flew with her. However, officials said Thursday she may have shown symptoms as many as four days before they initially indicated. Now the CDC is busy tracking all passengers who were on her first flight to Ohio last week.

Pham and Vinson were among nearly 100 workers who cared for Duncan in the Dallas hospital. Psaki said that as part of the CDC’s contract trace investigation, it was discovered that another employee of the Dallas hospital had left the country on a cruise ship.

At the time the worker boarded the ship, CDC protocol called for “self-monitoring,” including daily temperature checks. Psaki said the person has been following those instructions since Oct. 6.

“Today, every person at Texas Health Dallas who has had contact with a known Ebola patient is under active monitoring for 21 days after their last contact with the patient,” Daniel Varga, the chief clinical officer for Texas Health Resources, which oversees Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital, said in a statement.

Correction: An earlier version of this story quoted reports from Belize that the ship had been denied entry to the port. Carnival said that the vessel has already made its stop in Belize and all passengers except the worker and spouse were free to disembark.

A photo originally accompanying this story was mislabeled. The ship in the background, not the foreground, was the Carnival Magic.

At a hearing on Thursday, Daniel Vargas, chief clinical officer of Texas Health Resources, detailed for members of Congress the timeline of Thomas Eric Duncan's interactions with Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas. (AP)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/m...try-in-belize/

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   Belize Confirms Patient With Ebola Symptoms On Cruise Ship Off Its Coast
   
   October 17, 2014 by Belizean 18 Comments
   Galveston, Texas-based Carnival Magic cruise ship anchored at Stake Bank off Belize’s coast.
   
   Reports tonight are that two individuals possibly infected with the Ebola virus are in Belizean waters. Local TV station Channel 7 monitored in the capital City Of Belmopan tonight, reported having credible reports that a couple from a Texas-based cruise ship presently anchored off Belize City, is on a ship tender, unable to return to the cruise ship, while being refused entry to Belize City to catch an air ambulance awaiting at the International Airport to take them to the their country of origin, the U.S.A. The television station in its broadcast tonight said Belize health authorities contacted tonight have so far refused to deny or confirm the report. The patient exhibiting Ebola symptoms has been confirmed to be a nurse at a Dallas hospital traveling with her husband.
   Later tonight in breaking news, Channel 5 Belize reported that it has:
   “Confirmed with representatives of the Ministry of Health that they have indeed received a report that there is at least one passenger on board the cruise ship, Carnival Magic, showing symptoms similar to that of the Ebola virus. According to the report made to MOH, the person exhibiting the symptoms did not come ashore today. The ship is reportedly carrying 3652 passengers and a total population of 4633 persons.
   “The Carnival Magic departed from Galveston Texas on Sunday, October 12 arrived in Mahogany Bay, Honduras on Wednesday October 15 and arrived in Belize this morning, Thursday October 16.
   “The ship was scheduled to leave Belize en route to Cozumel this evening at 5pm. However, it is still anchored in Belizean waters near State Bank Caye.”
   “We have also have confirmed that the Belize Coast Guard has been deployed to prevent anyone from leaving the ship; including the Belizean pilot on board.”
   In a press conference held last weak, Belize’s Ministry of Health stated that in the event of an outbreak of Ebola in Belize, no patient would be allowed into the commercial capital Belize City, where most of the Belize government cabinet officials reside. The MOH stated that the government hospital, the Karl Heuesner Memorial Hospital has but one Intensive Care Unit and they would not allow this to be overrun with Ebola patients. Belize is a a very poor country on the Yucatan Peninsula that depends to a large extent on tourism and grants from Venezuela for its foreign exchange income. Belize City is currently the main port of call for cruise ships.
   Update: Channel 7 news anchor Indira Craig has posted on her Facebook page that Belize Prime Minister Dean Barrow in a callous move in view of very close Belize-U.S. relations, has denied entry into Belize for the stricken U.S. nationals to be air lifted to the U.S.A. for treatment:
   “Talks have concluded with the PM and The US State Department officials. Belize WILL NOT BE GRANTING ACCESS to the suspected passengers to have entry onto our shores. An official release will be sent out shortly by government followed by a press conference to be held tomorrow.Passports have been returned so this scare has ended.”
   In a late night official press release issued by the Belize Press Office, the Belize government offered its version of the Belize Ebola Incident.It stresses that while the patient did not disembark in Belize, it does not address the question that thousands of cruise ship passengers that may have had contact with the patient(s) did in fact disembark and tour Belize City today:
   Belmopan. October 16, 2014. The Government of Belize was contacted today by officers of the U.S. Government and made aware of a cruise ship passenger considered of very low risk for Ebola. The passenger had voluntarily entered quarantine on board the ship and remains free of any fever or other symptoms of illness. The Ebola virus may only be spread by patients who are experiencing fever and symptoms of illness and so the US Government had emphasized the very low risk category in this case. Nonetheless, out of an abundance of caution, the Government of Belize decided not to facilitate a U.S. request for assistance in evacuating the passenger through the Phillip Goldson International Airport.
   The GOB reassures the public that the passenger never set foot in Belize and while we remain in close contact with US officials we have maintained the position that when even the smallest doubt remains, we will ensure the health and safety of the Belizean people. The Prime Minister has called a press conference tomorrow morning to further address any concerns that may arise from this event.
   Update From Carnival Cruise Lines: John Head, Carnival Senior Cruise Director wrote on his FaceBook Page:
   “Late afternoon on Wednesday, Oct. 15., we were made aware by the U.S. CDC of a guest sailing this week on board Carnival Magic who is a lab supervisor at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital. At no point in time has the individual exhibited any symptoms or signs of infection and it has been 19 days since she was in the lab with the testing samples. She is deemed by CDC to be very low risk. At this time, the guest remains in isolation on board the ship and is not deemed to be a risk to any guests or crew. It is important to reiterate that the individual has no symptoms and has been isolated in an extreme abundance of caution. We are in close contact with the CDC and at this time it has been determined that the appropriate course of action is to simply keep the guest in isolation on board.”