© 2024 Connecticut Public

FCC Public Inspection Files:
WEDH · WEDN · WEDW · WEDY · WNPR
WPKT · WRLI-FM · WEDW-FM · Public Files Contact
ATSC 3.0 FAQ
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Cancer Answers is hosted by Dr. Anees Chagpar, Associate Professor of Surgical Oncology and Director of The Breast Center at Smilow Cancer Hospital at Yale-New Haven Hospital, and Dr. Francine Foss, Professor of Medical Oncology. The show features a guest cancer specialist who will share the most recent advances in cancer therapy and respond to listeners questions. Myths, facts and advances in cancer diagnosis and treatment are discussed, with a different focus eachweek. Nationally acclaimed specialists in various types of cancer research, diagnosis, and treatment discuss common misconceptions about the disease and respond to questions from the community.Listeners can submit questions to be answered on the program at canceranswers@yale.edu or by leaving a message at (888) 234-4YCC. As a resource, archived programs from 2006 through the present are available in both audio and written versions on the Yale Cancer Center website.

Recently Returned From Africa, Doctor Tests Positive For Ebola At NYC Hospital

Police officers stand outside the home of Craig Spencer, a Doctors Without Borders physician who recently returned to the city after treating Ebola patients in West Africa, on Thursday in New York. Spencer tested positive for the virus, according to preliminary test results, city officials said.
John Minchillo
/
AP
Police officers stand outside the home of Craig Spencer, a Doctors Without Borders physician who recently returned to the city after treating Ebola patients in West Africa, on Thursday in New York. Spencer tested positive for the virus, according to preliminary test results, city officials said.

A patient at a New York City hospital has tested positive for Ebola, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said at a news conference Thursday.

According to a statement from Doctors Without Borders, a doctor returned to the United States Oct. 12 after working with Ebola patients in Guinea.

A health alert regarding Ebola is displayed Thursday at the entrance to Bellevue Hospital in New York City.
Bryan Thomas / Getty Images
/
Getty Images
A health alert regarding Ebola is displayed Thursday at the entrance to Bellevue Hospital in New York City.

The man — who has been identified as Craig Spencer, 33 — notified the nonprofit's office that he had a fever this morning and he was transported to Bellevue Hospital, where he also presented with gastrointestinal issues. Spencer had not been symptomatic before Thursday morning, which reduces the risk that he could have passed the infection on to others.

At the news conference, de Blasio emphasized the unlikelihood of contracting Ebola through casual contact, saying that riding on the same subway with or living nearby an Ebola patient does not pose a significant risk.

New York City's Health Commissioner Mary T. Bassett said Spencer "was transported by a specially trained HAZ TAC unit wearing Personal Protective Equipment." Instead of going to the emergency room, the man was taken directly to an isolation unit.

The patient's apartment, his fiance and two friends with whom Spencer had had close contact have been quarantined, according to Bassett.

A bowling alley in the Williamsburg neighborhood that the patient recently had visited closed down out of an abundance of caution, and would be examined by health officials on Friday.

In a statement, New York-Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center said Spencer is one of their doctors who "went to an area of medical crisis to help a desperately underserved population."

NPR member station WNYC reports that Health Department specialists "are tracing all people who may have had contact with the patient and could be at risk. If necessary, those people could be placed under quarantine."

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said at the Thursday night press conference that he had spoken with Ron Klain, the country's newly appointed Ebola czar, and that Centers for Disease Control teams were on the way to New York.

Thomas Frieden, director of the CDC, said a team from the agency coincidentally had just completed an evaluation of Bellevue Hospital's preparedness for treating Ebola and found that the staff were fully trained in proper protocols.

Update on Oct. 24 at 12:45 a.m. ET. Doctors Without Borders Protocol:

Doctors Without Borders, also known as MSF, notes that its staff members go through a debriefing process when they return to the U.S. from a field assignment related to Ebola. In that debrief, MSF said in a press release, aid workers are informed of the following guidelines:

1. Check temperature two times per day

2. Finish regular course of malaria prophylaxis (malaria symptoms can mimic Ebola symptoms)

3. Be aware of relevant symptoms, such as fever

4. Stay within four hours of a hospital with isolation facilities

5. Immediately contact the MSF-USA office if any relevant symptoms develop

"Our colleague in New York followed the MSF protocols and guidelines since returning from West Africa," the statement said. It adds:

"As long as a returned staff member does not experience any symptoms, normal life can proceed. Family, friends, and neighbors can be assured that a returned staff person who does not present symptoms is not contagious and does not put them at risk. Self quarantine is neither warranted nor recommended when a person is not displaying Ebola-like symptoms."

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Eyder Peralta is NPR's East Africa correspondent based in Nairobi, Kenya.

Stand up for civility

This news story is funded in large part by Connecticut Public’s Members — listeners, viewers, and readers like you who value fact-based journalism and trustworthy information.

We hope their support inspires you to donate so that we can continue telling stories that inform, educate, and inspire you and your neighbors. As a community-supported public media service, Connecticut Public has relied on donor support for more than 50 years.

Your donation today will allow us to continue this work on your behalf. Give today at any amount and join the 50,000 members who are building a better—and more civil—Connecticut to live, work, and play.

Related Content