The CDC and Frontier Airlines are expanding the number of passengers it needs to get in touch with after nurse Amber Vinson was diagnosed with Ebola virus a day after flying.
A nurse's simple three-day trip from Dallas to Cleveland and back triggered a new batch of Ebola precautions Thursday by an airline, an Ohio bridal shop, nine schools and an untold number of people worried about the spread of the potentially deadly virus.
Amber Vinson, the second Dallas nurse to contract Ebola and one of 87 health care workers who cared for Ebola patient Thomas Eric Duncan before he died last week, is being treated at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta where two other Americans recovered from the virus.
Vinson traveled to Ohio last weekend to visit her mother and fiancé and plan her upcoming wedding. She flew to Cleveland Oct. 10 and back to the Metroplex Monday.
Officials in Dallas and in Ohio worked Thursday to ensure the virus didn't spread.
Ohio health investigators are trying to track down people who visited Akron bridal shop Coming Attractions when Vinson was there with friends Saturday afternoon and set up a hotline for customers who may have been exposed. The shop's owners voluntarily shuttered it after Vinson was diagnosed.
Frontier Airlines, which Vinson flew to and from Cleveland, began taking precautions Thursday to protect its customers on seven flights as well.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention officials said Thursday that they contacted and interviewed 105 of the 132 people on Vinson's flight from Cleveland to DFW Monday, Frontier Flight 1143, and advised several passengers who were near her on the plane will be monitored by health officials for symptoms.
CDC Director of Public Affairs Dr. Barbara Reynolds said that passengers on Monday's flight will be split into two groups:
- Those who sat close to Vinson: A few passengers, who the CDC will interview about their potential exposure to Vinson on the flight and be monitored for fever and other symptoms for 21 days.
- People at low risk: The majority of passengers, who the CDC will simply inform.
Any other monitoring or movement restrictions will be imposed by local or state health officials.
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The airline also reached out to passengers on Vinson's flight from DFW to Cleveland, even though she was asymptomatic at the time, the airline said Thursday afternoon.
"We can't rule out that she might have had the start of her illness on Friday," Dr. Chris Braden of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said, citing new information developed by investigators tracing all of Vinson's contacts. "This new information is saying we need to go back now to the flight she took on Friday the 10th and include them in our investigation of contacts."
Before returning to Dallas Oct. 13, Vinson called the CDC to report a low-grade fever, a symptom of Ebola. She was not told that she could not fly back to Dallas-Fort Worth, the CDC and Associated Press reported Wednesday.
A day after Vinson landed, she was hospitalized after testing positive for Ebola. Officials flew Vinson, who donned a hazmat bubble suit, to Atlanta Wednesday to be treated at Emory University Hospital.
Vinson's mother remained in Dallas, under voluntary quarantine, and is being monitored for symptoms.
Airline Tracks Passengers Who May Have Been Exposed
Frontier officials also want to talk to about 750 additional passengers who flew on the same plane on five subsequent flights before Vinson was diagnosed to let them know they may be at low risk for infection.
Those five flights included Flight 2042 from D/FW to Cleveland, Flight 1104 from Cleveland to Fort Lauderdale, Flight 1105 from Fort Lauderdale to Cleveland, Flight 1101 from Cleveland to Atlanta and Flight 1100 from Atlanta to Cleveland.
Frontier said Thursday the CDC has no concerns that these passengers are at risk, but they should contact local health authorities if they have any concerns.
In addition to the typical nightly cleaning at the end of the service day, the plane was also cleaned after the airline was notified about Vinson's condition. It was then flown to the airline's hub at Denver International Wednesday, where airline officials said seat covers and carpet in the vicinity of Vinson's seat were being removed.
The six-member crew that worked on Vinson's flight has already been removed from duty and placed on paid leave for 21 days while its members self-monitor for Ebola symptoms.
Schools in Texas, Ohio React to Ebola Threat
Central Texas' Belton Independent School District closed three campuses Thursday after learning that two students were on the same flight as Vinson. The schools, the North Belton Middle School, Sparta Elementary School and Early Childhood School, will all be cleaned.
The Eagle Mountain-Saginaw Independent School District said the parent of a student was on the same flight and that the family is under voluntary quarantine for 21 days and will self-monitor for symptoms.
The district said on its website they disinfected the school twice out of an abundance of caution. Tarrant County Public Health said the district chose to do that, there was no request or requirement because no one has presented symptoms of the disease.
The parents of four Garland Independent School District students who attended North Garland High School and Schrade Middle School were aboard the flight with Vinson. All parents have been in contact with the CDC and have been assured their seating location was in a no-risk area. The schools are being cleaned as a precaution.
Two people in Lewisville related to three students and a staff member in the Lewisville Independent School District were also on Vinson's flight. According to the CDC they were at minimal risk of exposure to Ebola and, according to Dr. Matt Richardson with the Denton County Health Department, there is no need to quarantine anyone or close a school. The names of the schools have not been released by the district or Denton County Health Department.
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In Royse City, two schools are being closed for cleaning because a family member with children at Davis Elementary and Ruth Cherry Intermediate schools is a nurse at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas and worked on one of the Ebola cases.
"We chose to do what we did. No one told us to," Royse City Indpendent School District Superintendent Kevin Worthy said. "We’re doing it to show our parents and our community we’re committed to the safety of our students."
Worthy said the buses and other seven school buildings will be cleaned during the weekend.
“We’re wiping down keyboards, desks, handrails, flooring, doing everything we can," he said. “It’s important to send a message to our parents and our students and our faculty that we take this serious."
Additionally, two schools in the Cleveland area were closed Thursday after it was confirmed a middle school staff member traveled on a different Frontier flight from Dallas to Cleveland that may have been the same aircraft on which Vinson traveled.
NBC 5's Chris Van Horne, Sam Schulz and Todd L. Davis contributed to this report.
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