UPDATE: NYC Doctor Tests Positive for Ebola, First Case in the State

By Ryan Bonner, Patch Editor

A New York City doctor who recently treated Ebola patients in West Africa has tested positive for the deadly virus, officials said Thursday night.

There is no evidence at this time that the doctor travelled to Connecticut, officials have said.

Craig Spencer, 33, is currently at Bellevue Hospital in Manhattan, where he was admitted Thursday with a fever and gastrointestinal symptoms. The positive Ebola test is the first in New York.

Health officials are now attempting to track down anyone Spencer may have come in contact with in recent days. Spencer was at a bowling alley in Brooklyn Wednesday evening and traveled via the subway and a taxi, according to a New York Times report.

Spencer, who worked with Doctors Without Borders in Guinea, was transported to Bellevue by a specially trained HAZ TAC unit wearing personal protective equipment, health officials said.

The NY Daily News reported that Spencer had quarantined himself in his Harlem apartment on W. 147th Street before he was rushed to the hospital.

An Ebola test was conducted “because of this patient’s recent travel history, pattern of symptoms, and past work,” the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene said in a statement on its website.

Spencer, who is fellow of international emergency medicine at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center according to his LinkedIn profile, contacted Doctors Without Borders on Thursday morning to report that he had developed a fever.

“As per the specific guidelines that Doctors Without Borders provides its staff on their return from Ebola assignments, the individual engaged in regular health monitoring and reported this development immediately,” the nonprofit organization said in a statement on its website.

Several people have been diagnosed with Ebola across the country recently, but only one, Thomas Eric Duncan, has died from the virus, which is spread by directly touching the bodily fluids of an infected person.

“The chances of the average New Yorker contracting Ebola are extremely slim,” the DOHMH said.

Photo: Craig Spencer/LinkedIn

More Ebola coverage on Patch:

• LI Congressman Demands Action to Address Ebola ‘Vulnerabilities’
• Travel From Ebola-Affected Countries Restricted To Five Airports, Including JFK
• PATCH POLL: Should U.S. Suspend Visas from Ebola Countries?
• WATCH: Ebola Joke Gets Man Booted Off Plane From Philly
• Hartsfield-Jackson Employee on Leave Following West Africa Trips
• South Florida Ebola Scare Unfounded
• Passenger Removed From Plane At Newark Liberty Airport Is Ebola-Free