Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas.(Photo: Richard Rodriguez, epa)



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A health care worker at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital who provided care for the Ebola patient who died there last week has tested positive for the deadly virus, authorities said Sunday.


The care-giver reported having a fever Friday night and was hospitalized, isolated and referred for testing within 90 minutes, Clay Jenkins, Dallas County's chief executive and its Homeland Security director, said at a news conference.


"While this is obviously bad news, it is not news that should bring about panic," Jenkins said. "We knew it was a possibility that a second person would contract the virus. We had a contingency plan in place."


Jenkins said the preliminary ​test result was received late Saturday, and that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention would run a confirmation test. He said he was certain Ebola would be confirmed. The worker, who requested anonymity, was listed in stable condition, Jenkins said.


Dan Varga, chief clinical officer for the hospital group that includes Texas Health Presbyterian, said the health care worker had worn full protective gear when working with Thomas Eric Duncan, who died Wednesday.


Tom Frieden, head of the CDC, told CBS's Face the Nation that his agency will investigate how a worker in full gear contracted the virus.


"Clearly there was a breach in protocol," Frieden said. "We have the ability to prevent the spread of Ebola by caring safely for patients … We'll conduct a full investigation of what happens before health workers go in, what happens when they're there, and what happens in the taking out, taking off their protective equipment because infections only occur when there's a breach in protocol."




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Duncan initially sought treatment Sept. 25, five days after arriving from Africa, and was sent home with antibiotics, despite informing health workers he came from West Africa where the virus has created an epidemic. He returned three days later in an ambulance and was diagnosed with the deadly infection.


Duncan was the first person diagnosed with Ebola in the United States.


The health care worker is among a few dozen who had contact with Duncan and were self-monitoring — watching for symptoms consistent with early signs of Ebola, Varga said. The monitoring guidelines include taking a temperature twice a day.



Dallas Police stand watch outside the apartment where a health care worker at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital lives and tested positive for Ebola on Saturday.(Photo: Larry W. Smith, epa)



"That health care worker is a heroic person," Jenkins said. "Let's remember as we do our work that this is a real person who is going through a great ordeal, and so is that person's family."


Last week, the hospital defended the quality of care it provided Duncan, saying treatment was not affected by the man's nationality or lack of health insurance.


The hospital had released a written statement Thursday in response to questions raised around the world about the treatment Duncan, 42, received, saying it wanted "to correct some misconceptions.''


"Our care team provided Mr. Duncan with the same high level of attention and care that would be given any patient, regardless of nationality or ability to pay for care,'' the hospital said in a statement from its director of public relations, Wendell Watson.


"In this case, that included a four-hour evaluation and numerous tests,'' he said. "We have a long history of treating a multicultural community in this area.''


Tougher screening for Ebola began Saturday at New York's Kennedy Airport. Agents with the Department of Homeland Security's Customs and Border Protection screened travelers from Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, taking their temperature and observing them for other Ebola symptoms. The program will be added at four more U.S. airports in coming days.


Ebola is spread through direct contact with bodily fluids of a sick person or exposure to contaminated objects such as needles. People are not contagious before symptoms such as fever develop.


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