Health-care worker with Ebola flew on commercial flight a day before being diagnosed

A Frontier Airlines plane is reportedly being disinfected in Cleveland after a second nurse to become infected with Ebola flew on the plane from Cleveland to Dallas on Monday. (Reuters)

The second health-care worker diagnosed with Ebola had a fever of 99.5 degrees Fahrenheit before boarding a passenger jet on Monday, a day before she reportedsymptoms of the virus and was tested, according to public health officials.

Even though there appeared to be little risk for the other people on that flight,she should not have traveled that way,Thomas Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said during a news conference Wednesday.

She should not have flown on a commercial airline,Frieden said.

This health-care worker flew on a Frontier Airlines flight from Cleveland to Dallas-Fort Worth with more than 130 other passengers.She did not have nausea or vomit on the plane, so the risk to anyone around her is extremely low, Frieden said.

The health-care worker was not namedby public health officials, buta spokesman for Cleveland identified her Amber Vinson.Family members told Reuters and the Dallas Morning News that Vinson is a nurse at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital.She was part of a team that had cared for Thomas Eric Duncan, a Liberian man who flew to Texas and was diagnosed with Ebola last month, during his hospitalization in Dallas. Duncan died last week. Nina Pham, a nurse who also cared for Duncan, was diagnosed with Ebola on Sundayand was in good condition Wednesday, the hospital said.

Vinson, who flew from Dallas to Cleveland on Friday, flew back to Texas on Monday, a day after Pham was diagnosed. She reported a fever on Tuesday and was isolated and tested for Ebola.

Still, the fact that she boarded a commercial flight raises the question of how much the other 50 health-care workers who entered Duncans room could have traveled or moved around in recent days. The CDC recommends controlled movement on private flights or vehicles for people who may have been exposed to Ebola, Frieden said.

We will, from this moment forward,ensure that no individual monitored for exposure undergoestravel in any way other than controlled movement, Frieden said Wednesday. He said the agency would work with state and local authorities to enforce this restriction.

It is still unclear how, exactly, Pham and Vinson were infected with Ebola, but Frieden suggested on Wednesday that it occurred during the days after Duncan was admitted to the hospital and before the CDC team arrived. Duncan was placed in isolation at the hospital on Sunday, Sept. 28, and the CDC did not arrive until Tuesday, Sept. 30, the day Duncan was diagnosed. Pham and Vinson both cared for Duncan during these days and had extensive contact with Duncan, who was vomiting and had diarrhea, Frieden said.

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Health-care worker with Ebola flew on commercial flight a day before being diagnosed

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