Ebola Patient in Dallas Hospital Dies
Doug Stanglin and Liz Szabo
USA TODAY
11:45 a.m. EDT October 8, 2014
Thomas Eric Duncan, the Liberian national who was hospitalized in Dallas with Ebola, died Wednesday, Texas Health Presbyterian hospital said.
"It is with profound sadness and heartfelt disappointment that we must inform you of the death of Thomas Eric Duncan this morning at 7:51 a.m.," the hospital said on its Facebook page. "Mr. Duncan succumbed to an insidious disease, Ebola. He fought courageously in this battle. Our professionals, the doctors and nurses in the unit, as well as the entire Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas community, are also grieving his passing. We have offered the family our support and condolences at this difficult time."
Duncan, who was the first person to be diagnosed with the disease in the U.S., arrived in Dallas on Sept. 20 from Liberia.
Ebola has killed more than 3,400 in Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Senegal and Nigeria, the World Health Organization says. The outbreaks in Nigeria and Senegal — which took swift, decisive action to control the virus — are likely over.
Duncan, 42, was admitted to Texas Health Presbyterian on Sept. 28 and it was confirmed he was infected with the virus two days later.
"The past week has been an enormous test of our health system, but for one family it has been far more personal," said Dr. David Lakey, Commissioner, Texas Department of State Health Services.
"Today they lost a dear member of their family. They have our sincere condolences, and we are keeping them in our thoughts. The doctors, nurses and staff at Presbyterian provided excellent and compassionate care, but Ebola is a disease that attacks the body in many ways. We'll continue every effort to contain the spread of the virus and protect people from this threat."
The four people living in the Dallas apartment where Duncan got sick were moved to a private residence in a gated community, and a hazardous-materials crew decontaminated their apartment, city officials said.
The treatment of the family drew criticism when they were quarantined in an apartment with Duncan's contaminated belongings for days before a hazardous materials crew arrived to bag up and sanitize the materials.
There are no proven treatments or vaccines for Ebola, but several Ebola patients treated in the USA and elsewhere have received experimental, unproven drugs for compassionate use.
There are no proven treatments or vaccines for Ebola, but several Ebola patients treated in the USA and elsewhere have received experimental, unproven drugs for compassionate use.
Ebola patients Kenty Brantly and Nancy Writebol, who both contracted Ebola while working for missionary groups in Liberia, received a drug called ZMapp, which contains man-made antibodies against Ebola. That drug's manufacturer, Mapp Bio of San Diego, says there are no more supplies of ZMapp, which was made in small quantities during its early developmental phase.
Duncan contracted the disease just before leaving Liberia in mid-September when he helped helped carry 19-year-old Marthalene Williams, who was later diagnosed with Ebola, into a taxi to go to the hospital after her family was unable to get an ambulance.
Williams, who was seven months pregnant, was turned away at the hospital because of lack of space in the Ebola ward, the Times reports. She returned home that evening, hours before she died.
At the airport Liberia when he was departing, Duncan signed a form saying that he had not had contact with any person infected by the virus.
It is not clear whether Duncan knew of Williams' diagnosis, which initially appeared to be pregnancy related, at the time he left the country. Officials in Liberia said Duncan showed no symptoms when he boarded the plane and he was therefore not contagious.
Ebola can only be spread through the bodily fluids of people showing signs of the disease.
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| Rev. Jesse Jackson with Nowai Korkoyah, the mother of Thomas Eric Duncan and Josephus Weeks, Duncan's nephew, outside the Texas hospital where Duncan died on Oct. 8, 2014. He was the first confirmed U.S. case of the Ebola Virus Disease. |
USA TODAY
11:45 a.m. EDT October 8, 2014
Thomas Eric Duncan, the Liberian national who was hospitalized in Dallas with Ebola, died Wednesday, Texas Health Presbyterian hospital said.
"It is with profound sadness and heartfelt disappointment that we must inform you of the death of Thomas Eric Duncan this morning at 7:51 a.m.," the hospital said on its Facebook page. "Mr. Duncan succumbed to an insidious disease, Ebola. He fought courageously in this battle. Our professionals, the doctors and nurses in the unit, as well as the entire Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas community, are also grieving his passing. We have offered the family our support and condolences at this difficult time."
Duncan, who was the first person to be diagnosed with the disease in the U.S., arrived in Dallas on Sept. 20 from Liberia.
Ebola has killed more than 3,400 in Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Senegal and Nigeria, the World Health Organization says. The outbreaks in Nigeria and Senegal — which took swift, decisive action to control the virus — are likely over.
Duncan, 42, was admitted to Texas Health Presbyterian on Sept. 28 and it was confirmed he was infected with the virus two days later.
"The past week has been an enormous test of our health system, but for one family it has been far more personal," said Dr. David Lakey, Commissioner, Texas Department of State Health Services.
"Today they lost a dear member of their family. They have our sincere condolences, and we are keeping them in our thoughts. The doctors, nurses and staff at Presbyterian provided excellent and compassionate care, but Ebola is a disease that attacks the body in many ways. We'll continue every effort to contain the spread of the virus and protect people from this threat."
The four people living in the Dallas apartment where Duncan got sick were moved to a private residence in a gated community, and a hazardous-materials crew decontaminated their apartment, city officials said.
The treatment of the family drew criticism when they were quarantined in an apartment with Duncan's contaminated belongings for days before a hazardous materials crew arrived to bag up and sanitize the materials.
There are no proven treatments or vaccines for Ebola, but several Ebola patients treated in the USA and elsewhere have received experimental, unproven drugs for compassionate use.
There are no proven treatments or vaccines for Ebola, but several Ebola patients treated in the USA and elsewhere have received experimental, unproven drugs for compassionate use.
Ebola patients Kenty Brantly and Nancy Writebol, who both contracted Ebola while working for missionary groups in Liberia, received a drug called ZMapp, which contains man-made antibodies against Ebola. That drug's manufacturer, Mapp Bio of San Diego, says there are no more supplies of ZMapp, which was made in small quantities during its early developmental phase.
Duncan contracted the disease just before leaving Liberia in mid-September when he helped helped carry 19-year-old Marthalene Williams, who was later diagnosed with Ebola, into a taxi to go to the hospital after her family was unable to get an ambulance.
Williams, who was seven months pregnant, was turned away at the hospital because of lack of space in the Ebola ward, the Times reports. She returned home that evening, hours before she died.
At the airport Liberia when he was departing, Duncan signed a form saying that he had not had contact with any person infected by the virus.
It is not clear whether Duncan knew of Williams' diagnosis, which initially appeared to be pregnancy related, at the time he left the country. Officials in Liberia said Duncan showed no symptoms when he boarded the plane and he was therefore not contagious.
Ebola can only be spread through the bodily fluids of people showing signs of the disease.
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