UPDATE: Dr. Craig Spencer tested positive for Ebola Thursday evening. A New York City doctor who recently returned from treating Ebola patients in Guinea was taken to the hospital on Thursday with Ebola-like symptoms. The patient's name is Craig Spencer, confirmed New York City Councilman Mark Levine. Authorities are discussing evacuating Spencer's Harlem apartment building, reports Reuters. The New York City Department of Health confirmed that a patient who had recently traveled in Africa was being tested for Ebola at Bellevue Hospital in Manhattan after experiencing symptoms like fever and gastrointestinal symptoms. Test results are expected within the next 12 hours. Doctors Without Borders (Médecins Sans Frontières) confirmed that a person in New York who had recently worked with the organization in West Africa reported a fever to them Thursday morning. The organization immediately notified the New York City Department of Health & Mental Hygiene with the news. As with all Doctors Without Borders staff who return from working with Ebola patients, the person had been monitoring his health daily since returning from his trip.
At this stage Doctors Without Borders said it will not be providing any further details about its colleague. HuffPost reached out to officials from Bellevue and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, but did not receive immediate comment. If confirmed, the patient would be the fourth person to be diagnosed with Ebola in the United States. See below for the full statement from the NYC Department of Health: Today, EMS HAZ TAC Units transferred to Bellevue Hospital a patient who presented a fever and gastrointestinal symptoms. The patient is a health care worker who returned to the U.S. within the past 21 days from one of the three countries currently facing the outbreak of this virus. The patient was transported by a specially trained HAZ TAC unit wearing Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). After consulting with the hospital and the CDC, DOHMH has decided to conduct a test for the Ebola virus because of this patient’s recent travel history, pattern of symptoms, and past work.
DOHMH and HHC are also evaluating the patient for other causes of illness, as these symptoms can also be consistent with salmonella, malaria, or the stomach flu. Preliminary test results are expected in the next 12 hours. Bellevue Hospital is designated for the isolation, identification and treatment of potential Ebola patients by the City and State. New York City is taking all necessary precautions to ensure the health and safety of all New Yorkers. As a further precaution, beginning today, the Health Department’s team of disease detectives immediately began to actively trace all of the patient’s contacts to identify anyone who may be at potential risk. The Health Department staff has established protocols to identify, notify, and, if necessary, quarantine any contacts of Ebola cases. The Health Department is also working closely with HHC leadership, Bellevue's clinical team and the New York State Department of Health to ensure that all staff caring for the patient do so while following the utmost safety guidelines and protocols.
Bellevue and the New York State Department of Health to ensure that all staff caring for the patient do so while following the utmost safety guidelines and protocols. The chances of the average New Yorker contracting Ebola are extremely slim. Ebola is spread by directly touching the bodily fluids of an infected person. You cannot be infected simply by being near someone who has Ebola. This is a developing story...Page created: Page last updated: Page last reviewed: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases (NCEZID) Office of the Director (OD)Bacterial Infections 101 Pictures Slideshow Take the Tummy Trouble Quiz Hepatitis C Slideshow Pictures Bacterial Infections 101 Pictures Slideshow Viral hemorrhagic fever (VHF) facts* What are viral hemorrhagic fevers? How are hemorrhagic fever viruses grouped? What carries viruses that cause viral hemorrhagic fevers? Where are cases of viral hemorrhagic fever found?
How are hemorrhagic fever viruses transmitted? What are the signs and symptoms and signs of viral hemorrhagic fever illnesses? How do health care professionals treat patients with viral hemorrhagic fever? How can cases of viral hemorrhagic fever be prevented and controlled? What needs to be done to address the threat of viral hemorrhagic fevers? Marburg Virus Disease History, Symptoms, and Treatment The Ugandan Ministry of Health reported on Oct. 5, 2014, that a health-care worker died of Marburg virus disease (formerly known as Marburg hemorrhagic fever [Marburg HF]) on Sept. 30, 2014. The source of his exposure is not clear. This is of interest since Marburg virus is a close relative of the Ebola virus, and both produce clinical signs and symptoms that are often indistinguishable. Learn more about the history of Marburg virus disease *Viral hemorrhagic fever facts by Charles Patrick Davis, MD, PhDViral hemorrhagic fevers are defined as a group of illnesses caused by different families of viruses that cause vascular damage that results in symptomatic bleeding (hemorrhage).
For example, Arenaviridae cause Lassa fever (Lassa virus), Argentine hemorrhagic fever (Junin virus), and Bolivian hemorrhagic fever (Machupo virus); Bunyaviridae cause Crimean-Congo, Rift Valley, and Hantaan hemorrhagic fevers; Filoviridae cause Ebola and Marburg diseases; and finally, Flaviviridae cause yellow fever, dengue fever, Omsk hemorrhagic fever, and Kyasanur Forest disease. Readers should note that flaviviruses are not the same as filoviruses, as these two viral terms designate two different families of viruses and are easily confused; Ebola is caused by a filovirus, not a flavivirus.Hemorrhagic fever viruses are mainly zoonotic diseases caused by viruses that usually reside in an animal or arthropod hosts that may serve as health vectors.Viral hemorrhagic fevers are usually seen associated with only one particular of species and consequently are usually contained in geographically restricted areas in Liberia, Uganda, Bolivia, or other countries with such areas; however, if the virus is introduced accidentally to humans in cities, it may become widespread (for example, the recent Ebola outbreak).
Hemorrhagic fever viruses are usually transmitted among animal or arthropod hosts; however, the viruses carried in these animal or arthropods can be transmitted to humans when humans come in contact with the urine, feces, saliva, or other bodily fluids of infected animals or arthropods, including if the animal is killed and eaten. In some instances, once the viruses infect humans, person-to-person transmission can occur when an uninfected person comes in contact with bodily fluids or (with some viruses) a bite by an arthropod vector.Symptoms of viral hemorrhagic fever include fatigue, fever, weakness, dizziness, and muscle aches; patients with more severe infections show bleeding under the skin, internal organs, or even from bodily orifices like the mouth, eyes, or ears. Some patients develop severe diarrhea that may also be bloody, and severely ill patients present with shock, delirium, seizures, kidney failure, and coma that often ends in death.Patients with viral hemorrhagic fevers usually receive only supportive therapy;
there is no other established cure for viral hemorrhagic fevers. However, ribavirin (Rebetol, Copegus) medical treatment has been effective in treating some individuals with Lassa fever, and treatment with convalescent-phase plasma has been used with success in a few patients -- other experimental antiviral agents have also been tried in a few patients.Prevention and control of hemorrhagic fevers is difficult; except for yellow fever and Argentine hemorrhagic fever, no vaccines have been made commercially available so that prevention efforts are concentrated on avoiding contacts with the host species, vectors, or humans infected with the viruses although one recent clinical trial showed effectiveness of a vaccine against a strain of Ebola virus.Scientists and health researchers are addressing the threat of viral hemorrhagic fevers to humans by attempting to develop immunological, molecular, and containment methods to prevent these hemorrhagic fevers and restore health to individuals who get hemorrhagic fevers.
Viral hemorrhagic fevers (VHFs) refer to a group of illnesses that are caused by several distinct families of viruses. In general, the term "viral hemorrhagic fever" is used to describe a severe multisystem syndrome (multisystem in that multiple organ systems in the body are affected). Characteristically, the overall vascular system is damaged, and the body's ability to regulate itself is impaired. These symptoms are often accompanied by hemorrhage (bleeding); however, the bleeding is itself rarely life-threatening. While some types of hemorrhagic fever viruses can cause relatively mild illnesses, many of these viruses cause severe, life-threatening disease.The Special Pathogens Branch (SPB) primarily works with hemorrhagic fever viruses that are classified as biosafety level four (BSL-4) pathogens. A list of these viruses appears in the SPB disease information index. The Division of Vector-Borne Infectious Diseases, also in the National Center for Infectious Diseases, works with the non-BSL-4 viruses that cause two other hemorrhagic fevers, dengue hemorrhagic fever and yellow fever.
VHFs are caused by viruses of four distinct families: arenaviruses, filoviruses, bunyaviruses, and flaviviruses. Each of these families share a number of features:They are all RNA viruses, and all are covered, or enveloped, in a fatty (lipid) coating.Their survival is dependent on an animal or insect host, called the natural reservoir.The viruses are geographically restricted to the areas where their host species live.Humans are not the natural reservoir for any of these viruses. Humans are infected when they come into contact with infected hosts. However, with some viruses, after the accidental transmission from the host, humans can transmit the virus to one another.Human cases or outbreaks of hemorrhagic fevers caused by these viruses occur sporadically and irregularly. The occurrence of outbreaks cannot be easily predicted.With a few noteworthy exceptions, there is no cure or established drug treatment for VHFs.In rare cases, other viral and bacterial infections can cause a hemorrhagic fever;