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N.Y. doctor tests positive for Ebola virus

Published: Oct 24, 2014 12:32 a.m. ET
Doctor left Guinea 10 days ago; fever reaches 103 degrees
By RussBritt


LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) — A doctor who traveled back to New York from an Ebola-stricken region of Africa has tested positive for the deadly virus after being rushed to the city’s Bellevue Hospital on Thursday.

Dr. Craig Spencer, 33, had a fever of 103 degrees Fahrenheit and was suffering from nausea when he was taken to Bellevue for testing, reports said. City officials later confirmed reports that Spencer tested positive for Ebola and was placed in isolation.

A second test to confirm the findings was planned by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Reuters said.

“It is our understanding very few people were in direct contact with him. ... Every protocol has been followed,” New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said at a news conference.

City officials said they were tracing the movement of Spencer before he was hospitalized to make sure he didn’t pass the virus on.

Spencer had been working in Guinea, one of three nations fighting an Ebola outbreak in Western Africa, for the non-profit Doctors Without Borders. He returned to New York 10 days ago and had quarantined himself in his Harlem residence on 147th Street, reports said.

Firefighters in hazardous materials suits sealed off his fifth-floor apartment, the New York Post reported. Meanwhile, officials are trying to identify others who may have come into contact with the doctor and could be at risk.

The New York Daily News said Spencer himself was clad in a haz-mat suit when he was transported to Bellevue. Other reports said he phoned 911 after his temperature spiked up.