City releases audio of 911 call about Duncan
The city of Dallas released a recording of a 911 call Monday regarding the Liberian man who later died of Ebola.
The call, which was made Sept. 28, lasted for 1 minute and 17 seconds. Youngor Jallah, the 35-year-old daughter of Thomas Eric Duncan’s girlfriend, tells the dispatcher that her father is having medical problems and gives their Vickery Meadow address. She does not mention Ebola.
The dispatcher expressed difficulty understanding Jallah in the recording. City spokeswoman Sana Syed said she was not aware of a transcript of the call. Syed said her “understanding is that all 911 protocols were followed.” Top Dallas Fire-Rescue aide Lt. Joel Lavender said the call was “handled well” by the dispatcher.
After Duncan’s hospitalization at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended additional screening questions for dispatchers to prepare paramedics who might come across an Ebola patient.
Tristan Hallman
Kansas hospital says patient is being tested
A Kansas hospital on Monday said that it was testing a patient for Ebola.
The University of Kansas Hospital in Kansas City said the patient, who had worked on a medical boat off Africa’s west coast, had gone to the hospital early Monday morning with a high fever and other symptoms.
The patient was considered at low to moderate risk and was isolated in an infectious disease unit for tests, said Lee Norman, the hospital’s chief medical officer.
McClatchy Washington Bureau
Louisiana disposal of ash from items blocked
NEW ORLEANS — A judge has signed an order temporarily blocking the disposal in southwest Louisiana of ash from the incineration of a Texas Ebola victim’s belongings.
Attorney General Buddy Caldwell had sought the order. Caldwell’s office said state district Judge Robert Downing of Baton Rouge signed it Monday afternoon.
Linen, bedding and carpet taken from the Dallas apartment where Thomas Eric Duncan first got sick were destroyed Friday at the Veolia Environmental Services incinerator in Port Arthur. The ash was to be sent to a Calcasieu Parish facility run by Chemical Waste Management Inc. of Lake Charles. However, Chemical Waste Management said Monday that it would not accept the ash until state officials agree that doing so would pose no public health threat.
The Associated Press
Journalist’s condition improving, doctors say
OMAHA, Neb. — Hospital and family members say the American video journalist being treated for Ebola in Nebraska is showing signs of improvement.
Dr. Mitchell Levy said on Monday that his son, Ashoka Mukpo, 33, has been improving in recent days and currently has no symptoms of nausea, vomiting or diarrhea. Levy says everyone is “really, really pleased with his progress.”
Mukpo contracted Ebola in West Africa. He arrived at University of Nebraska Medical Center on Oct. 6 after being flown back to the U.S. to be treated at the Omaha hospital’s specialized unit.
Shelly Schwedhelm, nursing director of the hospital’s biocontainment unit, says Mukpo is sitting up, eating food and drinking liquids. She also says he’s conversing with staff.
Levy says his son also is posting on Facebook and Twitter.
And doctors in Spain are cautiously hopeful that an assistant nurse who has contracted Ebola can recover. Teresa Romero remained in serious but stable condition Monday.
The director of the hospital where Romero is being treated said that tests showed that the level of virus had diminished significantly in Romero, 44.
She contracted Ebola after treating a Spanish missionary who fell victim to the disease while in West Africa and died at the Madrid hospital last month.
The Associated Press
Liberia health workers largely defy strike calls
MONROVIA, Liberia — Health workers reported for duty at Liberia’s hospitals on Monday, largely defying calls for a strike that could have further hampered the country’s ability to respond to the worst Ebola outbreak in history.
It was unclear if the nurses and other health workers had been offered higher hazard pay, as they were demanding. Liberia initially agreed to pay $700 per month in hazard pay to health workers on top of monthly salaries of about $200 or $300, but has since lowered that bonus to $435 per month, saying it can’t afford the higher rate because the epidemic and efforts to contain it have expanded so much.
The Associated Press