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The body of Sonny Boy Williams, 21, hours after he was picked up alive from his home in Monrovia, Liberia. The man who flew to Dallas and was later found to have the Ebola virus, identified by Liberian officials as Thomas Eric Duncan, helped Mr. Williams carry his sister, Marthalene Williams, 19, who was stricken by Ebola, to and from a hospital last month. She died the next day. Credit: Daniel Berehulak for The New York Times |
Miscommunication at the hospital led to Dallas' Ebola patient's release just with antibiotics. After being released, he has been in contact with dozens of people who are being tracked, 5 students in isolation now in their homes. The first patient diagnosed in the United States with the Ebola virus has been identified as Thomas Eric Duncan from Liberia.
Duncan, identified by The Associated Press, remained in isolation at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas on Wednesday in serious condition.
He was taken to the hospital in critical condition Sunday from a home in the Vickery Meadow neighborhood of northeast Dallas. Duncan had sought treatment at the hospital two days earlier, but was sent home with antibiotics.
During that first visit, his sister told AP, Duncan informed emergency room workers that he was from Liberia, the West African nation hardest hit by Ebola.
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Regretfully that information was not fully communicated throughout the full team,” said Dr. Mark Lester, executive vice president of Texas Health Resources. Lester said the team thought Duncan had a "low-grade common viral disease."