DALLAS, (Reuters) – A second Texas nurse who has contracted Ebola told a U.S. health official she had a slight fever and was allowed to board a plane from Ohio to Texas, a federal source said yesterday, intensifying concerns about the U.S. response to the deadly virus.
Amber Vinson, 29, flew from Cleveland, Ohio, to Dallas, Texas, on Monday, the day before she was diagnosed with Ebola, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.
Vinson told the CDC her temperature was 99.5 Fahrenheit (37.5 Celsius). Since that was below the CDC’s temperature threshold of 100.4F, “she was not told not to fly,” the source said. The news was first reported by CNN.
Chances that other passengers were infected were very low, but the nurse should not have been on the flight, CDC Director Dr. Thomas Frieden told reporters.
Vinson was isolated immediately after reporting a fever on Tuesday, Texas Department of State Health Services officials said. She had treated Liberian patient Thomas Eric Duncan, who died of Ebola on Oct. 8 and was the first patient diagnosed with the virus in the United States.