CDC announces new Ebola response procedures

ATLANTA, Ga. — Two nurses from Emory University are in Dallas, Texas where the first person to contract the Ebola virus in the U.S. is being treated. Those nurses are working with a Centers for Disease Control & Prevention team, identifying ways to improve safety.

Nina Pham, the infected health care worker, released a statement Tuesday praising the treatment she is getting.

The CDC is monitoring 76 of Pham’s coworkers who also treated Thomas Eric Duncan, who died in the Dallas hospital last week after being infected with Ebola.

On Tuesday, the director of the CDC laid out the agency’s latest plans to help hospitals and health care workers around the country diagnose and deliver safe care to Ebola patients.

“We’ve sent CDC’s most experienced staff, people who have worked on Ebola outbreaks for decades, people who have stopped Ebola outbreaks in very difficult areas,” said CDC Director Tom Frieden.

Frieden also announced the creation of the CDC’s Ebola response team.

“For any hospital anywhere in the country that has a confirmed case of Ebola, we will put a team on the ground within hours with some of the world’s leading experts,” said Frieden.

The CDC is ramping up training and setting specific guidelines to reduce the risk of a misdiagnosis.

“We would much rather see a false alarm than someone who lets their illness go on for a day and potentially get sicker and potentially expose other,” said Frieden.

WSBTV