CDC to form Ebola SWAT team for rapid response

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will create an Ebola response team to deploy to any site where a case of the illness has been confirmed, Director Dr. Thomas Freiden announced Tuesday.

The team would be deployed in a matter of hours anywhere a new case occurs, Frieden said. He regretted not having such a team in September when the U.S.'s first Ebola case surfaced in Dallas.

“We could have sent a more robust hospital team (to Dallas) and been more hands-on with the hospital from day one about exactly how this should be managed,” Frieden said. “We should have put a larger team on the ground immediately, and we will do that form now on any time there's a confirmed case.”

Currently, 76 healthcare workers from Texas Health Presbyterian Dallas are being monitored for possible infection as the hospital treats 26-year-old nurse Nina Pham, who tested positive for Ebola Sunday. She was in good condition as of Tuesday, the hospital announced. Pham had been in the treatment team for U.S. Ebola patient No. 1, Thomas Eric Duncan.

The initial 48 individuals who had contact with Duncan prior to his hospitalization and death have so far shown no signs of the illness, Frieden said. They were past the critical period during which the likelihood of infection would be high.

CDC on Tuesday sent a team of infectious disease experts to Dallas to improve hospital safety. Some of the measures being implemented include having a site manager on hand to oversee the safe donning and removal of personal protective equipment.

Still no explanation has been given as to how exactly Pham got infected. The investigation is ongoing into what happened, but no specific error has yet been identified as the cause, Freiden said.

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