Ebola in the U.S.

News broadcasts throughout 2014 chronicled the emergence and devastation of an Ebola virus disease (EVD) outbreak in three West African countries. The index patient in the U.S., a 42-year-old Liberian man who did not reveal his recent travel to Liberia, presented to an emergency room in Texas, was misdiagnosed, and was sent home. When he re-presented to the same emergency room, caregivers suspected EVD and placed him in isolation. Two critical care nurses who cared for him subsequently contracted EVD. Investigators recently published a retrospective description of the clinical characteristics and management of these patients.

The index patient initially presented, on illness day 2, with fever and abdominal pain. At the time of admission (ill…