New York City doctor tests positive for Ebola

October 24, 2014  09:34

A New York City doctor has tested positive for the Ebola virus after coming down with symptoms Thursday, officials have announced.

Tests Thursday evening at Bellevue Hospital Center came back positive for Dr. Craig Spencer, Mayor Bill de Blasio said at a news conference.

As CBS 2 reported, EMS crews picked up Spencer just after noon Thursday. He was rushed from a building on West 147th Street in Hamilton Heights where he lives, and taken to Bellevue by a procession of two city ambulances and a police squad car.

Spencer, a 33-year-old physician who works with Doctors Without Borders, came back a week ago from Guinea where he is believed to have been treating Ebola patients.

At the news conference, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said officials believe Spencer came in contact with four people during the time he was infected and symptomatic, and state officials are already talking to those four people.

Those four people include Spencer’s fiancée and two friends – all of whom are healthy, but have still been quarantined, New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene Commissioner Dr. Mary Travis Bassett said.

The fourth person who is in contact with the state is the driver of an Uber car, which Spencer took when he went bowling Wednesday night in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, Bassett said. The Uber driver had no direct contact with Spencer, and is not believed to be in any danger, she said.

Meanwhile, a 2-year-old girl in Mali has been diagnosed with Ebola, making her the West African country's first confirmed case, CNN reported.

The girl was brought to Mali from neighboring Guinea, where the outbreak this year is believed to have started, World Health Organization spokeswoman Yvette Bivigou said.

The girl, whose father died of Ebola, was taken to the hospital in Kayes after a nurse noticed she was suffering from what appeared to be Ebola-like symptoms. A test confirmed the girl has Ebola, Health Ministry spokeswoman Markatie Daou said.

"The girl is still in the hospital in Kayes together with members of her family who might have been exposed to the virus," she said.

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