Relief was tempered by caution Sunday as the first Dallas-area residents exposed to the deadly Ebola virus emerged healthy from 21 days of seclusion.
For Louise Troh, the relief was wrapped in mourning for her lost fiancé, Thomas Eric Duncan, and their long-awaited wedding that never occurred.
“We are so happy this is coming to an end, and we are grateful that none of us has shown any sign of illness,” Troh said in a written statement Sunday. “Our happiness is mixed with sadness at the same time. ... We have lost so much, but we have our lives and we have our faith in God, which always gives us hope.”
But as two nurses who contracted the illness continue to fight for their lives, the waiting continues for 75 others who came in contact with Duncan before he died Oct. 8 and for the more than 100 people in the United States who may have come in contact with one of the nurses.
“It’s a big day for Dallas,” Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins said Sunday. “But really, my focus is on the 48 that are going to be free of monitoring and the two who are fighting the disease and the 75 who are still unsure.”
The midnight Sunday deadline marked the end of the incubation period for Troh, three paramedics and 44 others who came in contact with Duncan before he was admitted to the hospital Sept. 28 with Ebola.
And Monday marks the end of the peak 12-day period during which other health care workers are most likely to develop the disease since their exposure before Duncan died.
As the deadlines pass, new guidelines are being drafted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to raise the standards for protective gear for workers, to leave “no skin showing.” Dallas County is also working on plans for a new response team to handle any additional Ebola cases that might emerge.
‘Faith, not fear’
Religious leaders took to the pulpit Sunday to urge calm.
“We are praying for the two nurses infected with Ebola and for all who have been exposed to this deadly virus,” said Robert Jeffress, pastor of First Baptist Church of Dallas. “However, as Christians we believe that faith, not fear, should control our lives.”
The first nurse to contract the disease, Nina Pham, is in fair but stable condition at a special containment unit at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md.
“She’s doing well,” said Dr. Anthony Fauci, head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, who is helping oversee her treatment. “She’s quite comfortable — had a long conversation with her last night. Obviously when you have Ebola, it’s a serious disease and it kind of knocks you out. ... But she’s in very good spirits as of ... [Saturday], in my discussion with her.”
The second nurse infected, Amber Vinson, was transferred to Emory University’s hospital in Atlanta. She has been listed in stable condition. The two nurses were among the first to treat Duncan when he arrived by ambulance at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas.
Vinson began running a fever after traveling to Ohio to prepare for her wedding. Hundreds of travelers have since been contacted by the CDC and asked to monitor their symptoms.
According to CBS News, Vinson’s relatives issued a written statement saying they are “troubled by some of the negative public comments and media coverage that mischaracterize Amber and her actions.”
“Suggestions that she ignored any of the physician and government-provided protocols recommended to her are patently untrue and hurtful,” they said.
‘Show compassion’
Troh has been at the epicenter of the disease in Dallas, the person believed most likely to contract the illness among all those potentially exposed.
That she didn’t contract the illness is testament to what infectious disease specialists have been saying all along — that it’s not as contagious as the flu, and someone must come in contact with blood or other bodily fluids.
“It’s not that easily transmitted,” said Dr. Joseph McCormick, regional dean of the University of Texas School of Public Health in Brownsville, who helped investigate the first recorded outbreak of Ebola in 1976. “It’s not flying through the air.”
Troh had shared an apartment in Vickery Meadow with Duncan since he arrived in the U.S. from Liberia on Sept. 20. On Sept. 24, he began running a fever, and he went to the Presbyterian emergency room Sept. 25 when his symptoms worsened.
Although he told a nurse that he had been in West Africa, the doctor did not recognize he had Ebola and sent him home with antibiotics. He returned by ambulance two days later and was placed in isolation.
Troh was left behind in the contaminated apartment with her 13-year-old son and two adult nephews for several days after Duncan was admitted. Eventually they were moved to a private home in an undisclosed gated community to wait out the 21-day incubation period.
Duncan had come to America to marry Troh, with whom he has an 18-year-old son, Karsiah Eric Duncan, who is in college.
“We continue to mourn his loss and grieve the circumstances that led to his death, just at the time we thought we were facing a happy future together,” Troh said in the statement, which was released by her church, Wilshire Baptist. “Even though the quarantine is over, our time of mourning is not over.”
Troh thanked Dallas officials and others who have helped them and said they are praying for others affected.
“We pray that God will bring healing to all in our community soon,” she said.
Troh and the others were at the center of prayers Sunday at Wilshire Baptist.
“They are now concerned about how they will regain their freedom to live among us and be welcomed back into the community,” senior pastor George Mason said. “Let’s just remember this: Louise is one of us. She belongs to this community. She is an American citizen who did absolutely nothing wrong in this case. Through no fault of her own, she lost the love of her life, and they lost all their possessions. ... They have nothing, and yet people are blaming her.”
Troh still hasn’t found a permanent new home but she is making plans, he said.
“She wants to see her grandchildren,” Mason said. “And she wants to just feel free.”
Jenkins urged the public to be accepting as Troh and her family emerge from isolation.
“Let’s not be cruel,” he said. “Let’s do what this community is good at — let’s show compassion.”
Dallas’ Fire-Rescue Department was ready to welcome back the three paramedics who treated Duncan as he was being taken to Presbyterian.
“As a department, we have been in constant contact with our members and are anticipating their return,” the department said in a written statement Sunday.
Other hospital units
As the waiting continues, Dallas officials are working on proposals to handle additional cases that might emerge.
Jenkins said Sunday that plans are underway to give the staff at Presbyterian a break by setting up isolation units at other hospitals.
Procedures are expected to be announced early Monday. The newly appointed federal Ebola czar, Ron Klain, has been in Dallas working with officials.
Others, meanwhile, continue watching and waiting.
Dallas resident Tiffany Watters said she and her husband, Byron Watters, took the same flight as Vinson. The couple did not sit near Vinson on the plane, but Tiffany Watters said she sat next to Vinson in the airport waiting area.
They have agreed to isolate themselves, and they receive calls twice a day from Texas health workers asking for their temperatures.
“At this point, I’m fine. Next week, I can’t say how I’ll feel,” Tiffany Watters said. “I’m from Denver, so I’ve been snowed in before. I’ve got that attitude about it.”
Staff writers Melissa Repko and Claire Z. Cardona and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
dhunt@dallasnews.com, aselk@dallasnews.com
