Texas nurse Nina Pham free of Ebola

(Story updated at 1:30 p.m. ET.)

Nina Pham, the first Texas nurse who contracted Ebola virus while treating Liberian patient Thomas Eric Duncan at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas, was discharged from care, National Institutes of Health officials announced Friday morning.

Pham had been transferred Oct. 16 from Texas to the NIH clinical care center in Bethesda, Md.

Pham, now free of Ebola virus, appeared with NIH officials at the Friday morning briefing in front of the clinical care center.

“I feel fortunate and blessed to be standing here today,” she said.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, in discussing Pham's treatment confirmed that beyond the plasma transfusion from Dr. Kent Brantly, who has survived the virus, she received no experimental drugs and that ultimately her own body fought off the virus.

He would not disclose how Pham planned to return to Texas. He noted that the only way to get the virus was to come into contact with body fluids from someone who has Ebola and was showing symptoms, two things no longer true about Pham.

After delivering her prepared remarks, Pham did not take questions.

A question she would have likely been asked is when she thought she could have been exposed to the virus. During a House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing that was simultaneously being held while Pham was being released, Deborah Burger, co-president of National Nurses United, which represents 190,000 nurses, reiterated a whistle-blower claim from Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas that Pham and her colleague Amber Vinson did not have the proper protective garb and training. The NNU has been highly vocal about nurse safety issues since the first diagnosed case in the U.S. surfaced in Texas.

Vinson also reportedly tested Ebola-free this week, but has yet to be released from Emory University Hospital in Atlanta.

Burger added that need for additional training for providers is critical. A recent survey of more than 3,000 nurses from more than 1,000 U.S. hospitals found that 85% of registered nurses said they still have not been adequately trained to care for Ebola patients.

Dr. Nicole Lurie, assistant HHS secretary for preparedness and response, insisted during the hearing that guidance was continuously being released as they learn more about the virus.

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