Ebola nightmare continues in Texas: Amber Vinson ID'd by family as 2nd Dallas nurse with virus, who flew day before diagnosis

Texas-based Amber Vinson flew over the weekend from Cleveland Hopkins International Airport to Dallas on Frontier Airlines Flight 1143. All 132 passengers have been asked to check in with the CDC. Vinson will be transferred to Emory University Hospital in Atlanta.

BY MEG WAGNER

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Published: Wednesday, October 15, 2014, 5:38 AM

Updated: Wednesday, October 15, 2014, 4:53 PM

FINAL VERSION. AP PROVIDES ACCESS TO THIS PUBLICLY DISTRIBUTED HANDOUT PHOTO PROVIDED BY CITY OF DALLAS PUBLIC INFORMATION MANAGING DIRECTOR SANA SYED. — Officials in hazmat suits tape off the door of the Village Bend East apartment where a health care worker who tested positive for Ebola lives in Dallas.

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An Ebola-infected nurse heading home from making wedding plans flew from Cleveland to Dallas aboard a commercial airliner carrying 132 passengers, officials said Wednesday.

Amber Vinson, 29, who treated doomed Ebola patient Thomas Eric Duncan, was diagnosed Tuesday — making her the second nurse from the Dallas hospital where he died to contract the virus.

Federal officials blasted Vincent for boarding the flight so soon after her exposure to the lethal virus blamed for 4,493 deaths in West Africa.

Three Vinson relatives who work at Kent State University in Ohio were asked to stay clear of campus for 21 days after meeting with the bride-to-be during her visit, school officials said.

“It’s important to note that the patient was not on the Kent State campus,” said school president Beverly Warren. “She stayed with her family at their home.”

Vinson flew out of Cleveland Hopkins International Airport back to Dallas. The next day, she spiked a 99.5-degree fever.

Vinson is in stable condition and will be transferred to Emory University Hospital in Atlanta later Wednesday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said at a press conference.

Frontier asked all 132 passengers on Monday's Flight 1143 to check in with U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention officials.

“She should not have traveled on a commercial airline,” CDC Director Tom Frieden said. Still, the risk for other passengers traveling alongside Vinson is low, he said.

Vinson — who lives alone in Dallas without any pets — is one of 77 hospital employees who had contact with “patient zero” Duncan before he died from the virus last week.

Published on Oct 15, 2014

A second Texas healthcare provider has tested positive for Ebola. The worker was among those who took care of Thomas Eric Duncan after he was diagnosed with the disease.

CDC ....wishes they had put in a Rapid Response Team immediately...