First case of Ebola recorded in New York

A New York doctor who recently returned from West
Africa has tested positive for Ebola and is being isolated
at a Manhattan hospital, city and state officials said
Thursday night.
The doctor, who has been identified as Dr. Craig Allen
Spencer by New York government sources, was placed
in an isolation unit today at Bellevue Hospital after
reporting Ebola-like symptoms. He had a fever and
gastrointestinal symptoms when he was transferred to
Bellevue, said NYC Department of Health and Mental
Hygiene Commissioner Dr. Mary Bassett.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will
confirm the preliminary positive test. CDC test results
are expected by the end of the day on Friday.
"We've been preparing for just this circumstance. We
were hoping that didn't happen but we were also
realistic," Gov. Andrew Cuomo said in a press
conference.
Spencer, 33, was treating Ebola patients in Guinea for
Doctors Without Borders, according to the officials.
Guinea is one of the West African countries currently
battling an Ebola outbreak.
Spencer left Guinea on October 14, said Bassett. He
traveled through Brussels, Belgium, and arrived at JFK
Airport, on Oct. 17.
The city Health Department has already started to trace
the patient's contacts, said Bassett, including four
people he had contact with - his fiancee, two friends
and an Uber driver.
His fiancee - identified by a family friend as Morgan
Dixon - is under quarantine at Bellevue Hospital while
his two friends are quarantined at home, said Bassett,
who added that they aren't showing Ebola symptoms.
The Uber driver isn't considered to be at risk for
contracting the virus.
New York Mayor Bill de Blasio and Cuomo expressed
their confidence in the staff at Bellevue Hospital to treat
Spencer.
"There is no reason for New Yorkers to be alarmed,"
said de Blasio. "We've been preparing for months for
the threat posed by Ebola. We have clear and strong
protocols, which are being scrumptiously followed and
were followed in this instance."
Earlier this week, a CDC team determined hospital staff
had proper protocols and was prepared to treat Ebola
patients, said CDC Director Dr. Tom Frieden.
While Spencer only began showing symptoms when he
reported a fever this morning, health officials have
begun tracking his movements since his return to the
U.S. Bassett said he took the A, L and 1 subway trains
on Wednesday. He also went to the High Line park and
a bowling alley in the Williamsburg neighborhood of
Brooklyn, The Gutter, which was closed Thursday, "out
of an abundance of caution," Bassett said.
The NYC Health Department will check the bowling alley
on Friday, said Bassett.
Cuomo said he had spoken with Ron Klain, who was
appointed by President Obama as his "Ebola czar." A
CDC team was also en route to New York, said Frieden.
NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical
Center described Spencer as a "dedicated
humanitarian ... who went to an area of medical crisis
to help a desperately underserved population."
Spencer's apartment was sealed off after it was
cleared. Since he tested positive, a team will
decontaminate his apartment in the Harlem section of
New York.
Spencer is the fourth patient to be diagnosed with Ebola
in the United States. Thomas Eric Duncan , a Liberian
national, tested positive for the virus at the end of
September in Dallas, where he infected two nurses who
cared for him: Nina Pham and Amber Vinson.
Duncan died on Oct. 8, shortly before the nurses tested
positive for the virus.
Vinson has been declared virus-free, her family
announced Wednesday. Pham's condition has been
upgraded from "fair" to "good."
Health officials decided to test the New York City
patient for Ebola because of the patient's work,
symptoms and travel history, according to the Bellevue
Hospital statement. Bellevue is the designated hospital
for the diagnosis and treatment of Ebola patients in
New York City.