Now that she’s free of Ebola and home with her family, nurse Nina Pham wants to see her little dog, Bentley. But Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins said Saturday that reunion will have to wait a bit longer.
“I’m lobbying for her and the dog, but we have to do what the doctors and scientists think is best,” said Jenkins, who has overseen the Ebola response in Dallas County.
Pham, the first person to contract Ebola in the U.S., has been separated from her 1-year-old Cavalier King Charles spaniel since she was put into isolation Oct. 10 at Texas Health Presbyterian Dallas.
Jenkins said the dog is suffering separation anxiety, and veterinarians worry that a visit from Pham could overexcite the dog and disrupt his routine.
Bentley is being monitored at Hensley Field Services Center in Grand Prairie while Dallas Animal Services checks him for signs of the deadly disease Pham contracted while treating Thomas Eric Duncan, who died of Ebola on Oct. 8. The dog has shown no signs of Ebola, and his quarantine should end around Saturday.
As for Pham, Jenkins said she is doing well since arriving late Friday at Fort Worth Meacham International Airport. She had been undergoing treatment in Maryland.
“One of the things that really made me happy was the level of energy she had,” said Jenkins, who was at the airport to greet the 26-year-old nurse. “She jumped into her dad’s arms, visited with some friends and took pictures with some people and just really seemed healthy and happy and glad to be home.”
It is not clear yet when Pham will return to her apartment on Marquita Avenue in Dallas or her job at Presbyterian.
“We haven’t talked about work or when she will go back into her apartment,” Jenkins said. “She is free to go anywhere. She can go to the movies, she can go to the mall, she can go wherever she wants to go because she is Ebola-free.”
Officials have declined to confirm that Pham is staying at her parents’ home in East Fort Worth. On Saturday, a police car was stationed outside the home along Hunters Glen Trail.
Meanwhile, the second Dallas nurse who contracted the virus while treating Duncan remains hospitalized at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta. She also is Ebola-free and said to be in good spirits. Jenkins said he has been in contact with nurse Amber Vinson’s mother and Emory doctors.
“With our two heroes, we got one home. We plan on bringing the other one home,” he said. “They are both heroes, and they beat the odds.”
nlight@neighborsgo.com, jfancher@dallasnews.com
