ABC News: A second Dallas nurse diagnosed with Ebola was transferred Wednesday to Emory University Hospital in Atlanta (see above photo).
An ambulance with a crew clad in hazardous-material suits arrived at the hospital and left for Dallas Love Field. There, aerial video showed the crew leading a person in a yellow hazmat suit and booties onto a jet. The executive jet lifted off about 5 p.m. Wednesday on its flight to Atlanta.
A statement from the Atlanta hospital said Amber Joy Vinson was being transferred to Emory from Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas. However, a spokeswoman for the Dallas hospital declined to confirm that Vinson had been removed from the facility.
Vinson was one of the nurses who cared for Thomas Eric Duncan, who died at the Dallas hospital last week of the Ebola virus. Another of Duncan’s nurses, Nina Pham, is also being treated for Ebola and was in “improved condition” Wednesday, Dr. Tom Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said.
Meanwhile, an American doctor undergoing treatment for Ebola said he had been critically ill but is now recovering and expects to be discharged soon from Emory University Hospital.
The unidentified patient — a doctor working for the World Health organization at an Ebola treatment center in Sierra Leone — arrived at the hospital on Sept. 9. He said his condition worsened soon after he arrived but he is now much better.
The doctor is one of three American aid workers brought to Emory from West Africa; the other two recovered. Emory and three other U.S. hospitals have specialized isolation units to care for Ebola with less risk of spread to health care workers.
The WHO doctor requested Emory release the statement, given the news about the two recently infected Texas nurses. But he did not give his name, and hospital officials have refused to identify him, citing the wishes of the patient and his family.
DCG