Having already claimed more than 3,000 people throughout West Africa, including a handful of American physicians and volunteers lending their services overseas, the Ebola Virus continues to rage across the region. Today the CDC (Centers for Control and Disease Prevention) held a press conference to announce a patient held at a Dallas hospital has tested positive for the disease, making it the first documented case in the United States.
Officials at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital advised that the unidentified patient was “admitted based on symptoms and recent travel history” following a recent trip overseas.
Like the two Americans who were recently transported back to the states and successfully treated at Emory University Hospital, this patient seems to have been exposed to the virus in Liberia as well.
Many believe that the U.S. is better equipped to deal with such an outbreak, as many of the affected areas were hit hard due to a shortage of healthcare workers and medical resources.
Said Director of Dallas County Health & Human Services Zachary Thompson, “This is not Africa. We have a great infrastructure to deal with an outbreak.”
At this time there are no other suspected cases in Texas.