US nurse Nina Pham cured of Ebola
An American nurse who contracted Ebola while caring for a patient in Texas has been declared free of the virus.
She will leave the hospital on Friday.
Ms Nina Pham was infected while caring for Mr Thomas Eric Duncan at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital.
The Liberian man died on Oct 8.
Ms Pham became the first US healthcare worker to be infected with Ebola while working inside the US.
She was initially hospitalised at her workplace, but was transferred to a specialised facility for treatment on Oct 16.
Breach of protocol
Nurse Amber Vinson was also infected while caring for Mr Duncan, but she is now free of the virus, according to her family.
Both women worked in the intensive care unit at the hospital and had extensive contact with Mr Duncan when he sick, though it remains unknown exactly how they were infected.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said a “breach of protocol” was to blame, and has since issued stricter guidelines for donning protective gear when caring for Ebola patients.
Ebola is spread though close contact with the sweat, vomit, blood or other bodily fluids of an infected person.
It has killed more than 4,800 people in West Africa so far this year. Healthcare workers are at particular risk of contracting Ebola.
Late on Thursday, a doctor in New York City who had been working in Guinea was found to be infected with Ebola.
A total of nine people with Ebola have been cared for in the United States.
So far, only the Liberian patient has died of the virus in the country.
Source: AFP
Get The New Paper on your phone with the free TNP app. Download from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store now