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DALLAS, Oct. 15 (UPI) -- A second healthcare worker at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital has tested positive for Ebola, health officials said Wednesday, fueling doubts about outbreak prevention. The unidentified patient works at the same hospital as the other healthcare worker, nurse Nina Pham. Pham was on the team that treated the first U.S. Ebola patient Thomas Eric Duncan, who later died.
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Health department spokeswoman Carrie Williams said the new patient reported a fever Tuesday and was immediately isolated for testing.
"Health officials have interviewed the latest patient to quickly identify any contacts or potential exposures, and those people will be monitored," she said.
The potential contact list is small, as those infected with Ebola are only contagious when they show symptoms, and the worker was isolated less than 24 hours after the onset of symptoms.
The second case of an Ebola infection in the United States raises doubts about the protocol at the hospital. Breaches in isolation and safety procedures are being blamed for the infection.
The National Nurses Union said in a statement Tuesday that there were breaches of protocol that could have led to the two hospital workers being infected. The shortfalls included insufficient clothing and gear worn by the emergency personnel, the fact that Duncan was left "for hours" out of quarantine, that his lab samples were sent in the same manner as normal specimens, and hospital officials allowed nurses involved with Duncan to tend to other patients.
Ebola can only be spread through the exchange of bodily fluids with someone who is infected, and the infected are only contagious when they begin to show symptoms.
