Texas health care worker who treated Thomas Eric Duncan tests positive for Ebola

Texas health care worker who treated Thomas Eric Duncan tests positive for Ebola
(Image credit: Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

A health care worker who helped treat Thomas Eric Duncan earlier this week has preliminarily tested positive for the Ebola virus. If confirmatory tests administered by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also are positive, the new patient will be the first to contract Ebola on U.S. soil, The Associated Press reports.

"We knew a second case could be a reality, and we've been preparing for this possibility," Dr. David Lakey, commissioner of the Texas Department of State Health Services, said. "We are broadening our team in Dallas and working with extreme diligence to prevent further spread."

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Thomas Eric Duncan died last week at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital, in Dallas. He had left Liberia in mid-September and traveled to the United States to reunite with relatives, but he had been exposed to the Ebola virus while helping a pregnant neighbor in Liberia.

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Sarah Eberspacher is an associate editor at TheWeek.com. She has previously worked as a sports reporter at The Livingston County Daily Press & Argus and The Arizona Republic. She graduated from Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism.