Ebola reaches the “Big Apple”

Ebola reaches the “Big Apple”
Ebola reaches the “Big Apple”
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The News Minute | October 24, 2014 | 12.10 pm IST

New York City has now officially witnessed its first case of Ebola as Dr Craig Spencer, 33, set off fresh fears about the spread of the disease after he returned to New York City after treating Ebola victims in West Africa and tested positive for the virus. 

He is currently in isolation at the Bellevue Hospital. Two friends and his fiancée have been quarantined but have not shown any symptoms.

Spencer had worked with the humanitarian organization “Doctors without Borders” in Africa. He first developed Ebola symptoms on Thursday morning. This is the ninth Ebola case seen in the United States and the first case in America's largest city which has a population of 8.4 million.

The Ebola virus is spread through direct contact with bodily fluids from an infected person and, is not airborne.

Governor Andrew Cuomo, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and other state and health officials held a news conference providing more information on the case. 

The governor assured the people that the government was prepared and said that "We also had fortunate circumstance here that the infected person is a doctor. So he was familiar with the possibility and symptoms, and he handled himself accordingly. Our best information is that for the relevant period of time he was only exposed to a very few people, partially because he knew exactly what the illness was all about and he was taking precautions on his own." 

Bellevue Hospital is one of eight hospitals designated for treatment of Ebola in New York.

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