There are more twists and turns in this Ebola story than the world can keep up with. Yesterday (Oct. 2) morning, Dr. Nancy Snyderman, NBC’s chief medical correspondent, reported to the Today show from Liberia where she educated viewers on the precautions taken to stop the disease from spreading. Now, one of the cameramen working with NBC been tested positive for Ebola and will be flown back to the United States.
Ashoka Mukpo, a freelance journalist, had been working in Liberia for several years, but was just recently hired to be a cameraman for NBC. He chronicled dire medical conditions on his Facebook page.”How unpredictable and fraught with danger life can be,” he wrote. “How in some parts of the world, basic levels of help and assistance that we take for granted completely don’t exist for many people.”
After feeling symptoms Wednesday, 33-year-old Mukpo put himself under quarantine before his diagnosis was confirmed. Snyderman said Mukpo has “a very good prognosis” and that “the amount of virus in his body is low.”
“We are doing everything we can to get him the best care possible. He will be flown back to the United States for treatment at a medical center that is equipped to handle Ebola patients,” NBC News President Deborah Turness said in a memeo. “We are also taking all possible measures to protect our employees and the general public.”
Sniderman and the rest of the NBC team will be travel back to the U.S. on a private plane and will stay in isolation for 21 days. The camera equipment is being sanitized.
Additionally, a doctor in D.C. is being treated for Ebola-like symptoms at Howard University Hospital.
Reports NBC News:
A patient with Ebola-like symptoms is being treated at Howard University Hospital in Washington, D.C., a hospital spokesperson confirmed late Friday morning.
The patient had traveled to Nigeria recently.
That person has been admitted to the hospital in stable condition, and is being isolated and tested. The medical team is working with the CDC to determine whether the patient has Ebola.
“In an abundance of caution, we have activated the appropriate infection control protocols, including isolating the patient,” said hospital spokesperson Kerry-Ann Hamilton in a statement. “Our medical team continues to evaluate and monitor progress in close collaboration with the CDC and the Department of Health.”
Hamilton did not share further details about the patient, citing privacy reasons, but said the hospital will provide updates as warranted.
Earlier this week a man in Dallas was diagnosed with Ebola, becoming the first official case in the U.S., although he caught the virus in Liberia. The man apparently lied and said that he had not had contact with any Ebola patients, and will be prosecuted upon his return to the West African country.
He is being treated at a Texas hospital, while his relatives must remain isolated in the possibly contaminated apartment where he stayed for 21 days.
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Photo: RT America
