By Glynn Cosker
Editor, In Homeland Security
Nina Pham is the name of the Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital worker who contracted the Ebola virus. Pham’s relatives revealed Nina’s identity Monday to NBC News and USA Today. Pham is the first person to contract Ebola while in the U.S.
Pham, a 26-year-old nurse, caught the virus while caring for Thomas Eric Duncan—the first man to be diagnosed with Ebola on U.S. soil. Duncan arrived in the U.S. from Liberia, became ill, and died in the hospital Oct.8.
Pham remains in stable condition in an isolation ward at the Dallas hospital and is one of 48 people under watch by the CDC for signs of infection. She graduated from Texas Christian University according to the Dallas Morning News.
Authorities state that Pham and all other workers in contact with Duncan wore appropriate protective clothing, gloves and eye masks—so exactly how she contracted Ebola remains a major mystery.
Meanwhile, CDC Director Tom Frieden stated that a breach of protocol within the hospital caused the virus to spread. He said Monday that other hospital workers might also come down with symptoms.
“Unfortunately, it is possible in the coming days we will see additional cases of Ebola,” Frieden told a room full of reporters Sunday. “This is because the health care workers who cared for this individual may have had a breach of the same nature.”
Pham’s dog—named Bentley—was taken to a safe place by Dallas officials and won’t be euthanized. Authorities in Spain caused an international uproar last week when they euthanized the dog of a Spanish nurse who contracted the Ebola virus. There is no solid evidence showing that a dog can spread the disease.
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