Story Developing

Tests have confirmed that a New York City doctor, who recently returned from Guinea, has tested positive for Ebola. Dr. Craig Spencer had treated Ebola patients for the charity group Medecins Sans Frontieres. Spencer returned to NY on Oct 17th. He began to suffer from fatigue early in the week, and had developed a fever by Thursday. He quickly contacted emergency officials once his condition worsened, and is currently being held in isolation at Bellevue Hospital. Health officials are now trying to retrace Dr. Spencer's steps, but are reassuring New Yorkers not to panic. Dr Mary Bassett, New York's health commissioner has said that Spencer's fiancee and two friends have also been placed in quarantine. Authorities are also looking at info from his credit cards and MetroCard to retrace as many of his movements as possible.

From the NY Times

While officials have said they expected isolated cases of the disease to arrive in New York eventually, and had been preparing for this moment for months, the first case highlighted the challenges involved in containing the virus, especially in a crowded metropolis. Dr. Spencer, 33, had traveled on the A and L subway lines Wednesday night, visited a bowling alley in Williamsburg, and then took a taxi back to Manhattan.

 

More From WPDH-WPDA