More Information About The Ebola Patient In Dallas Has Been Released And The Details Are Frightening

We’re learning more about Thomas Eric Duncan, the first man in the United States diagnosed with Ebola. According to the New York Times, Duncan carried a pregnant woman infected with the virus to a Monrovian hospital just days before boarding a flight to Dallas. That woman and three of her neighbors passed away within the week.

The family of the woman, Marthalene Williams, 19, took her by taxi to a hospital with Mr. Duncan’s help after failing to get an ambulance. Ms. Williams was turned away for lack of space in the hospital’s Ebola treatment ward, the family said, and they took her back home in the evening, hours before she died. Mr. Duncan helped carry her because she was no longer able to walk. In the taxi, Ms. Williams, who was seven months pregnant, had been convulsing.

I don’t know, just throwing this out there but why was he allowed in the U.S.? Shouldn’t one of the questions at the border be: “Have you been in contact with anyone infected with Ebola?” Seems pretty straightforward to me, a person with no medical or public health background.

Back in Dallas, Duncan’s family has been ordered to stay inside their home until October 19th. The order can and will be enforced by state and local law enforcement (if needs be). Elsewhere in the Dallas area, more than 80 people are being monitored for the disease with visits from a public health worker twice a day. Thus far, no one else has shown any symptoms.

While the situation appears contained, fear still spreads. Parents have taken their kids out of school as a precaution. Moreover, people are asking why Duncan was initially sent home from the hospital with antibiotics and painkillers four days before he was admitted. Hospital officials are chalking it up to a “miscommunication” between a nurse and doctors, something that sadly has been going on for far too long.

UPDATE: Liberian officials says Thomas Eric Duncan lied on his health form. He’s in big trouble.