Dallas

Gov. Perry: Kids Had Contact With Ebola Patient

Five children who attend Dallas schools had contact with a man diagnosed with Ebola and are being monitored, Texas Gov. Rick Perry said Wednesday.

The disclosure came at a press conference at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas, where the first patient with Ebola diagnosed in the U.S. remains in isolation.

Blood tests by state and federal health officials confirmed the Ebola diagnosis Tuesday. The patient recently moved to Dallas from Liberia to be with relatives, according to the City of Dallas. 

A health official speaking at the press conference Wednesday said the patient is in serious but stable condition. Experts from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are working to help locate his family, friends or others who came in contact with the sick man.

Perry said state and medical officials will “take every step available and necessary to care for this parent’s health and to ensure the safety and welfare of our citizens.” He emphasized that the disease “is not airborne and is significantly more difficult to contact than the common cold.”

“There are few places in the world better equipped to meet the challenge that is posed in this case,” he said of Texas.

A Dallas Fire-Rescue ambulance crew who transported the man to the hospital tested negative for Ebola but have been restricted to their homes while the virus' incubation period passes.

On Tuesday, Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings activated the emergency's operations center at Dallas City Hall, stage two.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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