| Boston.com | - |
New
York state and New York City officials, in a press conference Thursday
night, outlined the preparations of the city and the timeline of Dr.
New York doctor tests positive for Ebola, officials say
(file photo)
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New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio and other officials sought to
reassure residents at a press conference Thursday night, shortly after
city officials confirmed that a physician became the first New York
resident to test positive for Ebola.
“We want to state from the outset there’s no reason for New Yorkers to be alarmed,” De Blasio said. “Ebola is an extremely hard disease to contract.”
“The past few weeks we’ve been preparing for just this circumstance,” said Gov. Andrew Cuomo during the press conference held at Bellevue Hospital, where Craig Spencer is being treated. “We were hoping it wouldn’t happen but we were ready.”
Spencer, a 33-year-old doctor who lives in Harlem, returned to the city Oct. 17 from a stint treating Ebola patients in West Africa, where the outbreak of the lethal disease is concentrated. Only a tiny handful of people have contracted the disease outside that region of Africa.
Spencer remained vigilant for symptoms of the illness, which can only be contracted through direct contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person, and regularly took his own temperature. An infected person only becomes contagious when that person starts to show symptoms.
When he became feverish early Thursday, Spencer immediately contacted city officials and was transported to Bellevue, which has been specially equipped to cope with Ebola patients, said Dr. Mary Bassett of the city’s health department.
Federal officials will also conduct testing to confirm Bellevue's diagnosis. Results from that testing is expected by Friday night.
Bassett also said that Spencer is known to have travelled on the A, 1 and L subway lines Wednesday night, as well as to a bowling alley in Wiliamsburg.
But because he did not appear to be symptomatic until early Thursday, health officials believe only three people, including Spencer's fiancee, are at serious risk of exposure. Those three people have been quarantined and are healthy, Bassett said, although health officials are tracking down anyone who may have been in contact with Spencer while he was contagious.
De Blasio also stressed that the city was prepared for an Ebola case, with thousands of healthcare workers receiving specialized training at the Javits Convention Center Wednesday. Dr. Thomas Frieden, the executive director of the federal Centers for Disease Control, who joined the press conference by phone, said New York had taken precautions after two nurses who treated Thomas Eric Duncan, the man who died of Ebola at a Dallas hospital earlier this month, also became infected.
Frieden also noted that people who lived with Duncan -- who contracted the illness while traveling in Liberia and was the first person to die of it on U.S. soil -- did not themselves become sick.
“It does not spread easily,” Frieden said.
Paul Milo may be reached at pmilo@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @PaulMilo2. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
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“We want to state from the outset there’s no reason for New Yorkers to be alarmed,” De Blasio said. “Ebola is an extremely hard disease to contract.”
“The past few weeks we’ve been preparing for just this circumstance,” said Gov. Andrew Cuomo during the press conference held at Bellevue Hospital, where Craig Spencer is being treated. “We were hoping it wouldn’t happen but we were ready.”
Spencer, a 33-year-old doctor who lives in Harlem, returned to the city Oct. 17 from a stint treating Ebola patients in West Africa, where the outbreak of the lethal disease is concentrated. Only a tiny handful of people have contracted the disease outside that region of Africa.
Spencer remained vigilant for symptoms of the illness, which can only be contracted through direct contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person, and regularly took his own temperature. An infected person only becomes contagious when that person starts to show symptoms.
When he became feverish early Thursday, Spencer immediately contacted city officials and was transported to Bellevue, which has been specially equipped to cope with Ebola patients, said Dr. Mary Bassett of the city’s health department.
Federal officials will also conduct testing to confirm Bellevue's diagnosis. Results from that testing is expected by Friday night.
Bassett also said that Spencer is known to have travelled on the A, 1 and L subway lines Wednesday night, as well as to a bowling alley in Wiliamsburg.
But because he did not appear to be symptomatic until early Thursday, health officials believe only three people, including Spencer's fiancee, are at serious risk of exposure. Those three people have been quarantined and are healthy, Bassett said, although health officials are tracking down anyone who may have been in contact with Spencer while he was contagious.
De Blasio also stressed that the city was prepared for an Ebola case, with thousands of healthcare workers receiving specialized training at the Javits Convention Center Wednesday. Dr. Thomas Frieden, the executive director of the federal Centers for Disease Control, who joined the press conference by phone, said New York had taken precautions after two nurses who treated Thomas Eric Duncan, the man who died of Ebola at a Dallas hospital earlier this month, also became infected.
Frieden also noted that people who lived with Duncan -- who contracted the illness while traveling in Liberia and was the first person to die of it on U.S. soil -- did not themselves become sick.
“It does not spread easily,” Frieden said.
Paul Milo may be reached at pmilo@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @PaulMilo2. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
end quote from:
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