NEW YORK (Reuters) – A physician with Doctors Without Borders who returned to New York City after treating Ebola victims in West Africa tested positive for the virus, setting off fresh fears about the spread of the disease.
Dr. Craig Spencer, 33, is in isolation at Bellevue Hospital and officials sought to reassure the public that they are safe from Ebola, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said at a news conference.
Spencer developed a fever and gastrointestinal symptoms after working for the humanitarian organization in Guinea, one of three West African nations hardest hit by Ebola.
A specially trained team wearing protective gear transported Spencer to Bellevue Hospital from his Manhattan apartment earlier on Thursday, the city said in a statement.
Governor Andrew Cuomo said Spencer had been in direct contact with four people, and health authorities had quarantined three friends. The fourth person, a taxi driver, was determinednot to be at risk of Ebola.
The first confirmed case in America’s largest city set off renewed fears about the spread of the virus, which has killed nearly 4,900 people, largely in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea.
There have been nine cases of Ebola seen in the United States since the beginning of August.
The first person diagnosed with Ebola on U.S. soil flew from Liberia to Texas and later died in a Dallas hospital. Two nurses who treated him became infected with the virus and one took a commercial flight with a fever, prompting officials in several states to take steps to become better prepared to contain the virus.
Spencer’s Facebook page, which included a photo of him clad in protective gear, said he went to Guinea around Sept. 18 and then flew to Brussels on Oct. 16.
He has specialized in international emergency medicine at Columbia University-New York Presbyterian Hospital in New York City since 2011, according to his profile on the LinkedIn career website.
Columbia in a statement said he has not been to work nor seen any patients since his return.
The New York Times reported that Spencer traveled by subway to a bowling alley in the city’s Brooklyn borough on Wednesday night and took a taxi home.
The bowling alley, identified by local media as the Gutter, was closed on Thursday. Heaven, a band that was due to perform, said on Twitter that its show had been canceled because of an Ebola scare.
The health department said it was tracing all of the patient’s contacts to identify anyone who may be at potential risk.
Spencer’s apartment in Manhattan’s Harlem neighborhood was sealed off on Thursday but the rest of the six-story brick building had remained open to residents, health officials said.
The virus is spread through direct contact with bodily fluids from an infected person and is not airborne.
The United States this week began requiring travelers coming from Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea to enter through one of five airports conducting increased screening for the virus. It also is directing those travelers to check in with health officials every day and report their temperatures and any Ebola symptoms for 21 days.
