First Ebola case slipped through hospital cracks

Oct 3 2014

Doctors at the Texas hospital that initially treated the man who visited West Africa and contracted the disease sent him home with antibiotics after a lapse in communication. The miss is drawing scrutiny of the U.S.'s readiness to handle an outbreak.

The New York Times: Scrutiny In Texas To Detect Whether Ebola Has Spread
The man who has become the first Ebola patient to develop symptoms in the United States told officials at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital last Friday that he had just arrived from West Africa but was not admitted that day because that information was not passed along at the hospital, officials acknowledged Wednesday (Fernandez and Onishi, 10/1).

Los Angeles Times: Ebola Case In Dallas Signals Health System Lapse
A man infected with the Ebola virus slipped through the cracks of a system designed to stop the disease from spreading, health officials conceded Wednesday as they isolated five schoolchildren who may have had contact with the ill man and rushed to identify others who spent time with him. The patient, a Liberian named Thomas Eric Duncan, was listed in serious condition at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas after being taken there by ambulance Sunday morning, two days after his first visit to the hospital's ER ended with doctors sending him away with antibiotics (Glionna, Susman and Dixon, 10/1).

The Washington Post: Ebola Patient Was Allowed To Leave Dallas Hospital Last Week
Health officials are working to track down anyone who may have come into contact with Duncan after he began showing symptoms. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has sent a team of 10 people to Texas to work with state and local departments to track anyone who had close contact with him (Berman and Nutt, 10/1).

NPR: On The Alert For Ebola, Texas Hospital Still Missed First Case
Hospitals have been on the lookout for the Ebola virus in the United States, and Texas Health Presbyterian in Dallas was no exception. A nurse there did ask about the travel history of the patient who later turned out to be infected with the virus. But some members of the medical team didn't hear that the man had recently been in West Africa. So he was initially sent home -- even though he was experiencing symptoms of Ebola, and that meant he was contagious (Greenfieldboyce, 10/1).