Second Health Worker Tests Positive For Ebola In Texas

The Texas health department announced Wednesday that another health worker has tested positive for Ebola.

The second health worker had extensive, close contact with Thomas Eric Duncan, the Liberian national being treated at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas who died of Ebola last week. Although the second health worker has not been identified, another health worker, nurse Nina Pham, was confirmed as having contracted the disease from Duncan earlier this week.

While Pham cannot point to a specific incident where she would have been exposed to the virus, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention said the second health worker violated protocol beyond failing to wear protective gear when being in contact with Duncan.

"An additional health care worker testing positive for Ebola is a serious concern, and the CDC has already taken active steps to minimize the risk to health care workers and the patient," the CDC said in a statement.

The second health care worker has reportedly been interviewed to determine who they may have had contact with who could also be infected with the disease. The health care worker reported to the hospital Tuesday evening after running a slight fever.

Dr. Tom Frieden, director of the CDC, said this week that now his organization will dispatch a rapid response team to any hospital in the U.S. to ensure health care workers are taking the proper steps to avoid infection. Frieden said he lamented not having a more organized response effort to Duncan's case, as it could have prevented the infections of the two health care workers.

"We could've sent a more robust hospital infection control team and been more hands-on with the hospital from day one about exactly how this should be managed," he said in a statement Tuesday.