Nurse Nina
Pham, 26, was currently being treated for Ebola after becoming infected
with the disease while caring for Mr Duncan at Texas Presbyterian.
Miss
Pham, a Texas Christian University nursing school graduate, is in
isolation at the same hospital. She was reported in good condition on
Tuesday after receiving a blood transfusion from Ebola-survivor Dr Kent
Brantly.
The nurse was reportedly in good spirits and had spoken to her mother via Skype.
The
26-year-old was one of a team of 76 medical staff who cared for Mr
Duncan, 42, after he was diagnosed with the virus following his arrival
in the U.S. from Liberia.
Despite
wearing protective gear that included gowns, gloves, masks and face
shields while caring for Mr Duncan, the nurse became the first person to
contract the disease in the U.S.
Director
of the Centers for Disease Control and Protection (CDC) Dr Thomas
Frieden has blamed a 'breach in protocol' of infection control lead Miss
Pham to catch Ebola.
The newly-infected healthcare worker was part of the team treating Thomas Eric Duncan
Mr
Duncan arrived in Texas from Liberia on September 20. He began showing
symptoms of Ebola three days after his arrival and was admitted to Texas
Presbyterian Hospital on September 28. He died on October 8. Presbyterian's
chief clinical officer, Dr Dan Varga, said all staff had followed CDC
recommended precautions – 'gown, glove, mask and shield' – while
treating Mr Duncan.
On Monday, the CDC said that a critical moment may have come when Miss Pham took off her equipment.
An immediate review has been launched into the procedures and equipment used by healthcare workers.
Dr
Frieden added that the case 'substantially' changes how medical staff
approach the control of the virus, adding that: 'We have to rethink how
we address Ebola control, because even a single infection is
unacceptable.'
Ms
Pham was diagnosed after admitting herself to hospital on Friday when
her temperature spiked - one of the first symptoms of the deadly virus. Her
treatment has included a blood transfusion from recovered Ebola
patient, Dr Kent Brantly, 33, and she is receiving experimental drug
brincidofovir, or CMX001.
It was the
third time Dr Brantly has donated blood to an Ebola victim after medics
discovered he had the same blood type as previous patient Dr Nick Sacra
and NBC cameraman Ashoka Mukpo, who is still being treated.
Ebola,
a hemorrhagic fever which has no proven cure, has killed more than
4,000 people in West Africa since an outbreak that began in March.
The World Health Organization has called the outbreak 'most severe acute health emergency in modern times'.
