The 2nd nurse with Ebola flew the day before she tested positive for the virus, despite being one of the 76 medical workers from Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital under observation by the Centers for Disease Control. The 2nd nurse with Ebola in the United States was identified as 29-year-old Amber Joy Vinson from Dallas.
According to the Daily Mail, Vinson was already suffering from lo-grade fever when she boarded a flight from Cleveland, Ohio, to Dallas via Frontier Airlines Flight 1143 Monday. She boarded just hours before being hospitalized and declared the 2nd nurse with Ebola virus, according to the CDC.
Public health officials are concerned that Vinson could have exposed travelers to the virus and now, CDC officials are reportedly working with the airline to try and track down all 132 passengers on Frontier Airlines Flight 1143.
The plane which carried the 2nd nurse with Ebola took off from Cleveland-Hopkins International Airport around 6:30 p.m. eastern time Monday. It landed after 8pm at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport.
The morning after, Vinson appeared at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital with a fever. She was isolated, tested for Ebola, and results yesterday confirmed her to be positive, hence officially making her the 2nd nurse with Ebola in the United States.
Authorities said Vinson pushed to fly home to her family in Northeast Ohio on Friday since she is in the process of planning her wedding and visiting her mother.
The 2nd nurse with Ebola, who treated Ebola "patient zero" Thomas Eric Duncan, was already told by health officials that she was at risk for exposure to the disease. The CDC also advised people being monitored for Ebola to stay away from public transportation. However, Vinson still chose to fly on a commercial airline, which reinforces spread of the disease in the US.
"She should not have traveled on a commercial airline," said CDC Director Dr Thomas Frieden in a news Wednesday.
However, Frieden did not specify whether the 2nd nurse with Ebola was told by CDC officials that she wasn't allowed to travel.
Meanwhile, Frontier Airlines crew who had been aboard the flight with Vinson said she didn't appear to have had symptoms while on board.
The 2nd nurse with Ebola "exhibited no symptoms or sign of illness while on Flight 1143, according to the crew," Frontier said in a statement.
Though CDC officials did not provide an exact timeline for when Vinson started experiencing symptoms, it's estimated that the period she boarded the plane to the time she showed up at the hospital took place less than 12 hours. Her fever reportedly measured 99.5 degrees. However, patients are told only fevers reaching 101.5 degrees are of utmost concern.
While Vinson is the 2nd nurse with Ebola in the U.S., 26-year-old Nina Pham was the first nurse to test positive in the country. She started manifesting the illness this weekend. Both nurses are being treated at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas, which was the same hospital that treated Duncan.
Vinson is now in stable condition, but doctors are already preparing her for transfer to an infectious disease ward at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta, which treated first American Ebola patients Dr Kent Brantley and Nancy Writebol.
"Because of the proximity in time between the evening flight and first report of illness the following morning, CDC is reaching out to passengers," the CDC said in a statement.
According to Frontier, Monday's flight, which carried the 2nd nurse with Ebola, landed at Dallas-Fort Worth landed 8:16 p.m. The aircraft was parked overnight at the airport. It also made a stop at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport before being taken out of service for decontamination, reports NBC Miami.
The plane has already been disinfected twice according to CDC standards. Normal operation resumed on Oct. 14. On the same day, it was cleaned again in Cleveland at the end of the day.
However, the jet has already made five more flights with passengers before the CDC was able to notify Frontier Airlines of the possible Ebola exposure via the 2nd nurse with Ebola, according to the Sun-Sentinel.
The plane was grounded immediately after the CDC notified the carrier of the possible contamination late Tuesday, Denver-based Frontier said in a statement.
It remains unclear whether passengers on the additional flights are currently being contacted, but the CDC said no one on those flights is at risk of catching the virus. The agency also emphasized that the risk of catching the virus is "very low" even for Flight 1143 passengers.
Ebola patients, such as the 2nd nurse with Ebola, are not considered contagious until after they begin showing symptoms of the illness, which can reportedly take anywhere from two days to three weeks.
Flight 1143 passengers who may have had contact with the 2nd nurse with Ebola are urged to call the CDC at 1-800-CDC-INFO (1-800-232-4636) so CDC doctors can determine who is at risk for possible exposure.
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This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
