US - Texas: Woman falls ill at DART station - Over-reaction to public spitting?

[nola_mnr]

http://www.wfaa.com/story/news/health/2014/10/18/ebola-dart-station-dallas-monitoring/17503345/

DART spokesman Morgan Lyons said the person fell ill with a low-grade fever at the station in Northeast Dallas after deciding that her quarantine period was over.

[...]
DART said White Rock Station would be closed to bus and rail service until further notice; trains scheduled to stop at the station will not stop there.

 

[hawkeye]

Re: US - TX: Woman on Ebola watch list falls ill at DART station

Re: US - TX: Woman on Ebola watch list falls ill at DART station

Those staying with Mr. Duncan in Dallas as well as other contacts will be leaving quarantine on Monday.

 

[hawkeye]

Re: US - TX: Woman on Ebola watch list falls ill at DART station

Re: US - TX: Woman on Ebola watch list falls ill at DART station

http://www.wfaa.com/story/news/health/2014/10/18/ebola-dart-station-dallas-monitoring/17503345/

DART spokesman Morgan Lyons said the person fell ill with a low-grade fever at the station in Northeast Dallas after deciding that her quarantine period was over.

[...]
DART said White Rock Station would be closed to bus and rail service until further notice; trains scheduled to stop at the station will not stop there.

Why are they using plural?

On Friday, DART said two of its employees "have been connected with persons who have been exposed to or are carrying the Ebola virus." The transit agency said both employees are considered low risk by the Centers for Disease control because they neither had direct contact with any known Eolba patients.

 

[nola_mnr]

Re: US - Texas: Woman on Ebola watch list falls ill at DART station

Re: US - Texas: Woman on Ebola watch list falls ill at DART station

The two people from Friday were DART employees connected with the Ohio flights. I don't believe this incident is directly connected.

DART pres release from Friday: https://www.dart.org/news/news.asp?ID=1160

 

[BestlaStormcrow]

Re: US - TX: Woman on Ebola watch list falls ill at DART station

Re: US - TX: Woman on Ebola watch list falls ill at DART station

Now to figure out where her original exposure occurred, assuming she tests positive.

 

[alert]

Re: US - Texas: Woman on Ebola watch list falls ill at DART station

Re: US - Texas: Woman on Ebola watch list falls ill at DART station

This is a very low risk individual, near or beyond 21 days since exposure. The article now contains the phrase:



Lyons said the woman is believed to be a resident of the Ivy Apartments, where Ebola "patient zero" Thomas Eric Duncan became ill after traveling to the U.S. from Liberia.

------

Today is October 18. If we go back 21 days, we get September 27. Realistically, the only Ebola exposure she probably could have had was to fomites after the hospitalization of Mr. Duncan, and even that would be at 18-19 days by now. If she were infected in such a manner, I'm sure someone else with a shorter incubation period would have been by now.

I think that's why the comment about her quarantine being over was made. - alert

 

[nola_mnr]

Re: US - Texas: Woman on Ebola watch list falls ill at DART station

Re: US - Texas: Woman on Ebola watch list falls ill at DART station

http://thescoopblog.dallasnews.com/...n-temporarily-closed-saturday-afternoon.html/

[...]
WFAA reports the individual was being monitored for possible exposure to the Ebola virus.

But DART officials said the individual reportedly lived in the same apartment complex as Thomas Eric Duncan, the Liberian man who died earlier this month after contracting Ebola.
[...]

 

[kiwibird]

Re: US - Texas: Woman on Ebola watch list falls ill at DART station

Re: US - Texas: Woman on Ebola watch list falls ill at DART station

There was some problem with an apartment complex during he SARS outbreak

The second phase swept through Amoy Gardens, a Hong Kong apartment building complex of 15,000 residents, due to defects in the sewage system.

Patient zero at Amoy Gardens was a 33-year-old man from China visiting his brother who lived at Unit 7 on Floor 16 of Block E. He had diarrhea and used the toilets there, and subsequently infected his brother and sister-in-law with SARS along with 326 other residents at Amoy Gardens, killing 42.

The virus spread at Amoy Gardens because toilet U-traps were not functioning properly. Water droplets containing the virus were located on these U-traps - which are typically used to prevent sewer gases from entering the home. A faulty flush water system helped spread the disease.

http://www.flutrackers.com/forum/showthread.php?t=56299

 

[alert]

Re: US - Texas: Woman on Ebola watch list falls ill at DART station

Re: US - Texas: Woman on Ebola watch list falls ill at DART station

I'm not sure exactly what caused the issue at Amoy Gardens. Previous hypotheses have included the infamous broken sewer pipe, to physical transport of the virus by rats and roaches, to the accidental aerosolation of the virus by a cleanup crew.

While such an incident could happen here (remember the power washer from a couple weeks ago!) we are awful late in the incubation period, if not beyond it, to have registered our first such infection now.

 

[nola_mnr]

Re: US - Texas: Woman on Ebola watch list falls ill at DART station

Re: US - Texas: Woman on Ebola watch list falls ill at DART station

There are a great many causes of low-grade fever that are not caused by ebola. However, I'm glad this incident is being taken seriously.

I think we have a pretty good idea how ebola spreads in rural Africa but we're learning as we go in some ways as ebola is introduced to new enironments (densely populated cities in Africa, hospital settings in Spain and the U.S.).

The video of the parking lot at the Ivy apartments being cleaned with a pressure washer, for example, still bothers me.

 

[sharon sanders]

Re: US - Texas: Woman on Ebola watch list falls ill at DART station

Re: US - Texas: Woman on Ebola watch list falls ill at DART station

Michael Coston retweeted
WFAA TV ‏@wfaachannel8 12m12 minutes ago
Dallas County expected to address DART station Ebola alert at 3:30 news conf; watch live on http://WFAA.com

 

[alert]

Re: US - Texas: Woman on Ebola watch list falls ill at DART station

Re: US - Texas: Woman on Ebola watch list falls ill at DART station

The power washing seems to have been done on or around September 30. Here is our thread on it:

http://www.flutrackers.com/forum/showthread.php?p=548904

 

[alert]

Re: US - Texas: Woman on Ebola watch list falls ill at DART station

Re: US - Texas: Woman on Ebola watch list falls ill at DART station

Even the weak exposure history above is in question:

http://thescoopblog.dallasnews.com/...n-temporarily-closed-saturday-afternoon.html/

Updated at 2:54 p.m.: DART spokesman Morgan Lyons sent the following email statement to The Dallas Morning News about the White Rock station closure:

The person being treated by Dallas Fire Rescue at White Rock Station is NOT on any Ebola watchlist. She is being treated by DFR as a person who is ill. Updated reports indicate she got off a northbound train at the station and vomited on the platform. There are no indications of any biohazards or spills on any vehicle she has used. We are inspecting the train and the platform and will clean the facility and vehicle as needed consistent with our protocol.

 

[alert]

Re: US - Texas: Woman on Ebola watch list falls ill at DART station

Re: US - Texas: Woman on Ebola watch list falls ill at DART station

http://www.wfaa.com/story/news/health/2014/10/18/ebola-dart-station-dallas-monitoring/17503345/

DALLAS ? Officials now say that a woman who fell ill at the Dallas Area Rapid Transit White Rock Station Saturday afternoon is not known to be a part of any Ebola watch list.

DART spokesman Morgan Lyons said the person exited a northbound Blue Line train at the station and vomited on the platform. She was earlier reported by DART to have been on a list of individuals being monitored for the often deadly illness. The woman was said to have a low-grade fever at the transit facility in Northeast Dallas.

 

[nola_mnr]

Re: US - Texas: Woman who lives in Ivy Apartments falls ill at DART station

Re: US - Texas: Woman who lives in Ivy Apartments falls ill at DART station

http://www.dart.org/rideralerts/fullra.asp?id=2298

DART Update 355p 101814
White Rock Station remains closed to bus and rail service while Dallas Fire Rescue attends to a sick passenger. We are waiting for the customer to be transported and then the station platform will be cleaned. Our apologies for the inconvenience.

 

[Nika]

Re: US - Texas: Woman who lives in Ivy Apartments falls ill at DART station

Re: US - Texas: Woman who lives in Ivy Apartments falls ill at DART station

Not sure if im repeating above but press conference revealed this woman just spat on the platform and does NOT live in Duncans apt complex

 

[AnnaLisa]

Re: US - Texas: Woman who lives in Ivy Apartments falls ill at DART station

Re: US - Texas: Woman who lives in Ivy Apartments falls ill at DART station

Unfortunately the news will be rife with all kinds of hoaxes and unsubstantiated reports. It's also going to take an economic toll to respond with hazmat teams for every instance.

 

[sharon sanders]

Re: US - Texas: Woman who lives in Ivy Apartments falls ill at DART station

Re: US - Texas: Woman who lives in Ivy Apartments falls ill at DART station

Unfortunately the news will be rife with all kinds of hoaxes and unsubstantiated reports. It's also going to take an economic toll to respond with hazmat teams for every instance.

Agreed. In addition, I hope the local news reporters get a better grip of the true situations faster than this example today. They are on the ground. It seems there is beginning to be a "rush to ebola" in news reporting.