Texas deputy falls ill after contacting Ebola patient

FRISCO, Texas – Suburban Dallas officials said a sheriff’s deputy who went into the apartment where the first U.S. Ebola patient had stayed is hospitalized “out of an abundance of caution” after falling ill.

Frisco officials said the deputy was transported Wednesday after an urgent care facility reported a patient “exhibiting signs and symptoms” of Ebola claimed to have had contact with the man diagnosed with the disease in Dallas.

Federal and state health officials said there’s no indication the deputy had any direct contact with Thomas Eric Duncan.

Frisco Fire Chief Mark Piland said the deputy entered the apartment where Duncan had been staying and had contact with some members of the family that lived there.

Health officials said none of the family members has exhibited symptoms and wouldn’t have been contagious.

• In Madrid, Spain, health officials announced a euthanization was carried out on the pet dog of a nursing assistant who was diagnosed Monday to have contracted the deadly virus when she treated a patient from Sierra Leone.

A battle for the life of Excalibur, a light-brown mixed breed, exploded on online social networks after the woman’s husband sought public support for saving the dog’s life. Officials said if the dog had the virus, it wouldn’t show symptoms but could pass it to humans. They said his body would be cremated.

Associated Press