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Texas Hospital Worker Is Being Monitored for Ebola on Cruise Ship


DOW JONES & COMPANY, INC. 9:35 AM ET 10/17/14


DALLAS--A Texas health-care worker who may have had contact with clinical specimens from the first man diagnosed with Ebola in the U.S. has self-quarantined onboard a cruise ship, the U.S. Department of State said Friday.

The unnamed health-care worker from Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas left the U.S. via a commercial cruise ship on Oct. 12 from Galveston, Texas.

"We are working with the cruise line to safely bring them back to the United States out of an abundance of caution," the State Department statement said.

The government of Belize said in a statement Thursday night that it had been contacted by the U.S. about transporting the worker through the country's Philip S.W. Goldson International Airport, but said that "out of an abundance of caution the Government of Belize decided not to facilitate a U.S. request for assistance."

"The passenger never set foot in Belize," the Belize government statement said, adding, "when even the smallest doubt remains, we will ensure the health and safety of the Belizean people."

The cruise ship's doctor has monitored the worker and the person is said to be in good health, but is voluntarily isolated in a cabin along with another traveler as a precaution, the U.S. State Department statement said.

The worker was considered at very low risk for contracting Ebola and was originally only required to self monitor for possible signs of the disease. The person "was out of the country before being notified of CDC's updated requirements for active monitoring," the statement said.

Texas and federal authorities tightened monitoring requirements this week after two nurses who treated the initial Ebola patient, Thomas Eric Duncan, contracted Ebola. It was at that point, after more active monitoring began, that "it was discovered that an employee...had departed the United States," the statement said.

The hospital said it had no immediate information on the matter.

The worker has been checking his or her temperature daily since Oct. 6, and hasn't had a fever or any other signs of illness. It has been 19 days since the person was potentially around Mr. Duncan's fluid samples, near the end of the 21-day period when a person is believed to be likely to contract the disease.

Write to Miguel Bustillo at [e-mail]

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10-17-140935ET
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