STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- NEW: Second worker is positive for Ebola at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas
- A nurses' union slams the hospital where Duncan died
- The CDC forms an Ebola response team
- WHO estimates there will be up to 10,000 new cases by December
A second worker tests positive for Ebola at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital. A nurses' union issues a blistering critique. And the World Health Organization fears the outbreak will get far worse before it gets better.
With multiple developments under way, here's what you need to know Wednesday to get caught up on the latest in the Ebola outbreak:
U.S. DEVELOPMENTS
Another worker tests positive
A second health care worker at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas who provided care for Thomas Eric Duncan has tested positive for Ebola, the state Department of Health says. The hospital will now monitor all those who had contact with the worker for signs of potential exposures
Major allegations against Texas hospital
The guidelines were constantly changing and "there were no protocols" at Texas Health Presbyterian, the co-president of National Nurses United says. It's here that Ebola patient Thomas Eric Duncan died, and nurse Nina Pham contracted the virus caring for him. Protective gear that nurses initially wore left their necks exposed; they felt unsupported and unprepared; and they received no hands-on training, co-president Deborah Burger says. The hospital says compliance and employee safety are its top priorities.
Should Duncan have been moved?
Duncan should have been transferred immediately to either Emory University Hospital in Atlanta or Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha, an official close to the situation says. Those hospitals are among only four in the country that have biocontainment units and have been preparing for years. "If we knew then what we know now about this hospital's ability to safely care for these patients, then we would have transferred him to Emory or Nebraska," the official says.
Recuperating nurse thanks supporters
Nina Pham, who contracted Ebola while caring for Duncan, says she's doing well. "I am blessed by the support of family and friends, and am blessed to be cared for by the best team of doctors and nurses in the world," she said Tuesday.
Obama says the world isn't doing enough
U.S. President Barack Obama says he'll reach out directly to heads of state to encourage other countries to do more to fight back. "There are a number of countries that have capacity that have not yet stepped up. Those that have stepped up, all of us, are going to have to do more," he says.
CDC forms Ebola response team
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is establishing an Ebola response team so that whenever there's a confirmed case anywhere in the country, "we will put a team on the ground within hours," Director Dr. Tom Frieden says. Such a team, Frieden says, might have prevented Pham from contracting the disease.
WEST AFRICA DEVELOPMENTS
Expect 5,000 to 10,000 new cases
The World Health Organization estimates that there will be 5,000 to 10,000 new Ebola cases weekly in West Africa by the first week of December. As of Tuesday, there had been 8,914 cases and 4,447 deaths, but WHO says the total is under-reported. The mortality rate in the outbreak is 70%, WHO said.
IN OTHER COUNTRIES
U.S. seeks use of Spanish bases
The United States is seeking permission to use Spanish bases to help in transport and logistics support for the U.S. military mission to help fight Ebola in West Africa. American transit and logistics flights have already been approved case-by-case by Madrid, but Washington hopes for a more blanket agreement.
A spokesman for Spain's Defense Ministry told CNN's Al Goodman that Spain has approved some flights from its Rota naval base and Moron air base to West Africa, but not yet any return flights from West Africa. The Spanish defense minister is scheduled to meet U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel in Washington on Friday.
Spanish nurse's assistant serious but better
Teresa Romero Ramos, a nurse's assistant in Spain who showed Ebola symptoms after treating an Ebola patient at her Madrid hospital, still is in serious condition, but doing better, officials said this week.
Romero spoke to her husband by phone for 10 minutes, family friend Teresa Mesa told reporters Wednesday. Romero has been drinking water, and doctors are hopeful about her condition, Mesa said.
The hospital treating Romero, Carlos III Hospital in Madrid, is preparing more rooms in case it has to treat more Ebola cases. By Friday, the sixth floor, where Romero is being treated, will have four more rooms prepared for such treatment, along with larger changing rooms for health care workers, a hospital spokeswoman said Wednesday.
Spanish authorities are monitoring more than 80 potential Ebola cases -- 15 in hospitals and the rest at home, according to the Spanish Ministry of Health. None of them is showing symptoms of Ebola, the ministry said Tuesday.
source>>> cnn