CDC: Latest U.S. Ebola patient flew on plane from Ohio to Dallas day before diagnosis
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Health officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Tuesday that the latest U.S. healthcare worker to be diagnosed with Ebola flew on a plane from Cleveland to Dallas-Fort Worth on Monday, the day before her diagnosis.
Amber Joy Vinson, 29, was one of the health professionals treating Thomas Eric Duncan, the Liberian Ebola patient who died last week. While The Associated Press notes that people infected with Ebola are not contagious until they show symptoms (Vinson didn't have symptoms and test positive for the virus until a day later), the other 131 passengers on the Frontier Airlines flight were alerted to the nurse's condition, and the CDC wants to monitor the them for symptoms as a precaution.
Update, Oct. 17: A CDC official, Dr. Chris Braden, revealed Friday that Vinson "felt funny" while resting in Ohio before she was diagnosed with Ebola in Dallas. Dr. Braden told AP that health officials "can't rule out the possibility that her illness began last Saturday, or possibly earlier."
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Meghan DeMaria is a staff writer at TheWeek.com. She has previously worked for USA Today and Marie Claire.
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