The second nurse to be diagnosed with Ebola in Dallas has reportedly been identified as Amber Vinson. After treating a patient diagnosed with Ebola who later died, Vinson herself came down with the virus, making her the second nurse at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas to be infected; the first was Nina Pham.
Vinson had treated Thomas Eric Duncan, who flew from Liberia to the US with Ebola and died on October 8, while he was at the Dallas hospital.
According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Vinson complained of a fever on Tuesday and was subsequently isolated. Preliminary tests reportedly showed that Vinson was positive for Ebola, but confirmation testing is under way. Health and Human Services reportedly said that Vinson will be transported to Emory Universal Hospital in Atlanta, which is equipped to handle Ebola. Vinson is said to be ill but in stable condition, and the CDC is apparently monitoring the three people she came into contact with before going into isolation.
Amber Joy Vinson, 2nd Dallas nurse with Ebola, traveled to Ohio to visit family, plan wedding http://t.co/AfQQEcnh4h pic.twitter.com/YP5oI0j9Iv
— NBC News (@NBCNews) October 15, 2014
Vinson flew on Frontier Airlines flight 1143 from Cleveland to Dallas on Monday, said the CDC. She reported having a fever of 99.5 degrees before boarding the flight, which Dr. Thomas Frieden, director of CDC, said was reason enough for her not to have boarded the commercial flight. Authorities are now monitoring the 132 passengers on the flight with Vinson, although Frieden said that their exposure to Ebola was “an extremely low likelihood.”
We’re told the plane was disinfected twice & back in service – @Rene_MarshCNN on #Frontier plane #AmberVinson flew pic.twitter.com/kALFMXq9OA
— Anderson Cooper 360° (@AC360) October 16, 2014
“She did not vomit. She was not bleeding. So the level of risk of people around her should be extremely low,” said Frieden.
Amber Vinson, 29, is the latest person to have contracted #Ebola, bringing the total number of treated to 8 patients. pic.twitter.com/PjeejyFxTj
— CNN Tonight (@CNNTonight) October 16, 2014
Meanwhile, Vinson’s relatives are also being closely monitored by authorities in Ohio. Police have reportedly taped off the home of Vinson’s mother on Stonegate Trail in the Stonegate Reserve housing development in Tallmadge, according to 3WKYC. Up to seven police cars were seen in front of the home, and police are reportedly restricting access to the neighborhood.