The second Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital employee to be diagnosed with Ebola is a female who lives alone and has no pets, Judge Clay Jenkins said during a Wednesday press conference, and dozens of other health workers at the Dallas hospital could be at risk.
"At the hospital, we have a situation involving 77 people, two of which have tested for Ebola," Jenkins said.
The newest person diagnosed was among those taking care of Thomas Eric Duncan, the Liberian national who died from the disease while being treated at the hospital. Dr. Daniel Varga, chief clinical officer of Texas Health Resources, said those who treated Duncan had proper protective gear.
"We are a hospital that may have done some things differently with the benefit of what we know today," Varga said. "I do not think we have a systematic, institutional problem." The second diagnosed Ebola patient joins Nina Pham, 26, a nurse at the hospital whose condition is improving, officials said The second patient was admitted to the hospital on Tuesday and placed into isolation 90 minutes after reporting that she had fever and other symptoms, Jenkins said.