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 The healthcare worker was evacuated from West Africa and arrived at
the NIH clinical center on Friday. The clinician, who has not been
identified, was working with Partners In Health at the medical aid
group's Sierra Leone Ebola center.
Partners in Health said in a statement that 10 of its clinicians in
Sierra Leone came to the aid of their ailing colleague. They were
all subsequently identified as contacts of the patient being treated
at NIH.
The 10 individuals were flown to the United States via
non-commercial aircraft to be monitored at designated Ebola
treatment facilities to give them access to rapid testing and, if
necessary, treatment.
Four are being monitored by doctors at Nebraska Medicine; one of
them developed symptoms on Sunday evening and was moved into the
Nebraska Medicine biocontainment facility, Dr. Phil Smith, medical
director of the biocontainment unit, said in a statement. However,
Smith said some of those symptoms have since resolved.
"At this point, this person has not tested positive for the Ebola
virus," Smith said.
The hospital said a fifth person from the original exposure group in
Sierra Leone is being transferred to the Nebraska facility for
monitoring later on Monday.
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The healthcare workers will voluntarily isolate themselves during
the remainder of the 21-day Ebola incubation period, Partners in
Health said.
Tom Skinner, a spokesman for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention, said the agency is continuing to investigate the
circumstances around the 10 exposures.
(Reporting by Susan Heavey and Julie Steenhuysen. Writing by Sharon
Begley; Editing by Bernard Orr)
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