Dallas Ebola patient vomited outside apartment on way to hospital [View all]

[LostInAnomie]

Dallas Ebola patient vomited outside apartment on way to hospital

By Lisa Maria Garza

DALLAS Wed Oct 1, 2014 9:54pm EDT


(Reuters) - Two days after he was sent home from a Dallas hospital, the man who is the first person to be diagnosed with Ebola in the United States was seen vomiting on the ground outside an apartment complex as he was bundled into an ambulance.

"His whole family was screaming. He got outside and he was throwing up all over the place," resident Mesud Osmanovic, 21, said on Wednesday, describing the chaotic scene before the man was admitted to Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital on Sunday where he is in serious condition.

Texas health officials said that up to 18 people, including five children, had contact with the Ebola patient after he traveled to the United States from Liberia in late September. The children had gone to school early this week but have since been sent home and are being monitored for symptoms.

Ebola spreads through contact with bodily fluids such as blood or saliva, which health experts say limits its potential to infect others, unlike airborne diseases. Still, the long window of time before patients exhibit signs of infection, such as fever, vomiting and diarrhea, means an infected person can travel without detection.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/10/02/us-health-ebola-usa-idUSKCN0HP2F720141002