UPDATE: Doctors at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas have discharged Deputy Michael Monning after he tested negative for Ebola. In addition, CareNow, the facility Monning went to when he first felt symptoms, will reopen Friday morning at 8 a.m. local time. The clinic says there were two comprehensive cleanings of the facility and that public health and safety officials cleared the clinic after Monning tested negative for Ebola.
—
Dallas County Sheriff’s Deputy Michael Monnig was hospitalized after showing possible Ebola symptoms, Dallas-area media reported Wednesday.
“The deputy expressed concern and we directed that deputy to the Dallas County Health & Human Services for care,” the Dallas County Sheriff’s Department said in a statement. “We now wait for further information as medical staff attends to the deputy.”
The patient — who was transported from Frisco, Texas — had reported being in the Dallas apartment where Thomas Eric Duncan had been staying and having “some contact” with Duncan’s family members, Frisco Fire Chief Mark Piland told reporters.
But he never had any contact with Duncan, and he doesn’t have a fever, Texas Department of State Health Services spokesman Chris Van Deusen said.
“In a situation with no fever and no contact, there is no risk,” Van Deusen said in a written statement.
“We understand that anyone near the Dallas response will be very concerned about any health issues they experience, and we want them to report those issues so we can check them out quickly,” Van Deusen said. “We’re closely tracking those whose contact put them at risk of potential infection, and none of those people have reported any symptoms of Ebola.”
Monnig was a first responder and had spent about 30 minutes in the apartment, his son told CNN affiliate KTVT. He woke up Wednesday, feeling sore and fatigued and with a stomachache.
“With the situation, what’s happened, he just decided it would be better to be safe than sorry,” Logan Monnig told KTVT.
The family does not expect that Monnig has Ebola, but still, his son said, “we’re kind of scared and just want to make sure he’s OK.”
The patient exhibited several possible symptoms of Ebola, Piland said.
“He had several, but not all five or six. He exhibited enough to trigger the preliminary screening,” Piland said. Health officials, he said, are “treating this as a low-risk event.”
The patient was admitted to the emergency room at Texas Health Presbyterian Dallas “after reporting possible exposure to the Ebola virus,” the hospital said.
“Right now, there are more questions than answers about this case,” the hospital said. “Our professional staff of nurses and doctors is prepared to examine the patient, discuss any findings with appropriate agencies and officials.”
Asked about the case by reporters, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Tom Frieden said the patient “does not have either definite contact with Ebola or definite symptoms of Ebola.”
A spokeswoman for CareNow, which made the call to emergency dispatchers, said the medical center “was being very cautious” after the patient checked yes in response to a screening question regarding travel to West Africa.
“We’ve had a patient that checked yes to one of the screening questions regarding travel to West Africa,” CareNow spokeswoman Vickie Johnson told CNN. “We are being very cautious and are in contact with the health department to ensure we follow proper protocol. Our concern is for the safety and well-being of everyone in our clinic.”
