NYC Doctor Tests Positive for Ebola

Craig Spencer reportedly was out bowling before falling ill
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 23, 2014 7:55 PM CDT
New York City Doctor Tests Positive for Ebola
In this Oct. 8 file photo, two Bellevue Hospital workers pose in protective suits in an isolation room in a demonstration of proper procedures.   (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)

New York City has its first Ebola case: A doctor who recently returned from West Africa has tested positive for the disease, reports the New York Times. Craig Spencer, who had been working in Guinea with the group Doctors Without Borders, is now in isolation at Bellevue Hospital. City health authorities are trying to get a handle on how many people may have had contact with him in the last week or so. The Daily News reports that the 33-year-old returned from Africa 10 days ago—well within the standard 21-day period in which symptoms would typically appear—and was "roaming around town" before falling ill. He reportedly went bowling in Brooklyn last night, rode the subway, and used taxis run by the service Uber.

Before the diagnosis came out, Mayor Bill de Blasio sought to play down fears as news spread of Spencer's hospitalization. “Our understanding is that very few people were in direct contact with him,” he said at an evening press conference. Fire officials got a call from Spencer's address in West Harlem this morning and transported him to the hospital with a 103-degree fever and nausea, reports DNA Info. Spencer reportedly lives with his fiancee. Authorities have sealed off their apartment and were distributing informational fliers about Ebola. The CDC, meanwhile, plans to conduct another test to confirm the initial diagnosis. (More Ebola stories.)

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