ALERT: Ebola Spreading Rapidly Across Texas As More Are Diagnosed According to recent reports, a Texas health care worker has tested positive for Ebola, in the first known case of disease being contract or transmitted in the United States. Although the worker claims that she wore full protective gear while caring for a hospitalized patient who died from the virus, Dr. Tom Frieden, the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, claims that the diagnosis shows a breach of safety protocol. Now, anyone who helped in the treatment of Thomas Eric Duncan are considered potentially exposed. According to Frieden, the health care worker has not been able to identify a specific breach of protocol that could have led to her infection. Duncan arrived to the United States from Liberia to visit his family on September 20th. He first sought medical care for fever and abdominal pain on September 25, telling his nurse that he had traveled from Africa. He was sent home anyways. On September 28, Duncan returned to the hospital and was placed on isolation because of suspected Ebola. He died just days later. Now, Texas officials are monitoring nearly 50 people who had or may have had contact with Duncan after he began showing symptoms. The health care worker reported a fever on Friday night as part of a self-monitoring regimen required by the CDC. A preliminary state test showed that she was positive. Another worker is in isolation, and now the hospital has ceased accepting new emergency room patients. We knew a second case could be a reality, and weve been preparing for this possibility, claimed Dr. David Lakey, of the Texas Department of State Health Services. We are broadening our team in Dallas and working with extreme diligence to prevent further spread. Ebola spreads through close contact with a symptomatic persons bodily fluids, whether it be blood, sweat, feces, urine, vomit, saliva, or semen. Those fluids must then have an entry point like an open wound, or through the nose, mouth or eyes. According to the WHO, blood, feces, and vomit are the most infectious fluids. When Duncan arrived in Dallas, he showed no symptoms, but had already been exposed to Ebola. According to neighbors in Liberia, Duncan probably became infected while helping a pregnant neighbor who later died from the disease. It is unclear whether he knew about her diagnosis before making the decision to travel. 