The second Dallas nurse who contracted the Ebola virus while taking care of the first diagnosed Ebola patient in the US, is now free from the disease, her family said on Wednesday.
Amber Vinson, one of two nurses who were infected with the disease while attending to Thomas Eric Duncan at Texas Presbyterian Hospital earlier this month, is now regaining strength more than a week after she was diagnosed with Ebola. Tests by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) no longer detect the virus in her system, Vinson’s mother Debra Berry said in a statement.
She tested positive of the disease on October 15, a week after Duncan died on October 8 Nina Pham, the first nurse to fall ill from the deadly infection was diagnosed on October 11, ABC reported.
[quote text_size=”small” author=”–Debra Berry” author_title=”Vinson’s mother”]
We are overjoyed to announce that, as of yesterday [Tuesday] evening, officials at Emory University Hospital and the Centers for Disease Control are no longer able to detect virus in her body,
[/quote]
The hospital has approved Vinson to be transferred from isolation.
“Amber and our family are ecstatic to receive this latest report on her condition,” Berry said in a statement. “We all know that further treatment will be necessary as Amber continues to regain strength, but these latest developments have truly answered prayers and bring our family one step closer to reuniting with her at home.”
A day before she tested positive of Ebola, Vinson boarded a flight from Dallas to Cleveland, Ohio, The Washington Post reported. The CDC allowed her to board the plane even though she had a 99.5-degree body temperature. However, CDC Director Thomas Frieden said Vinson should not have been allowed to travel because of her possible infection.
President Obama spoke to the medical staff of the Texas Presbyterian on Wednesday and “conveyed his thoughts and prayers to their two colleagues who were infected with Ebola and wished them a speedy recovery,” the White House said.
