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New Day Sunday

Dallas Health Care Worker Contracts Ebola; U.S. Insists Baghdad Safe from ISIS

Aired October 12, 2014 - 08:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

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ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: So glad to have you with us this morning. I'm Christi Paul.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Victor Blackwell. Eight o'clock here on the East Coast. You are watching NEW DAY SUNDAY.

We would like to welcome, of course, our viewers here in the U.S. and from around the world.

PAUL: And we begin with breaking news: Texas health officials have confirmed a second case of Ebola here in the U.S.

BLACKWELL: If confirmed by the CDC, this would be the first time someone has contracted the deadly virus inside the United States.

Let's go now live to CNN's Ed Lavandera. He is joining us by phone outside Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital.

Ed, tell us what do we know about this new case?

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Well, good morning, guys.

Hospital officials here are preparing for a news conference that will happen in about 30 minutes or so we are told. But it's obviously a disturbing development. Not one that health officials here in the state of Texas say that they're shocked by.

If you remember over the course of the last few weeks, there has been a great deal of attention focused on tracking the contacts that had come in contact with Thomas Eric Duncan, the Ebola patient who passed away last week. There were some almost 50 people that they were closely monitoring.

We were told that ten of those people were considered to be in high risk situations. Those were obviously the people who were with Thomas Eric Duncan in that apartment and you have to presume it was also some of the people that had treated Thomas Eric Duncan on his visits to the hospital here. So, we are told by hospital officials here in Texas that it is a

health care worker who had cared for Thomas Eric Duncan. In what capacity and specific details of all that we don't know just yet, but state health officials say here they expected and they had been preparing for the possibility that a second person considering the number of people who were considered to be at high risk of contracting the disease will be monitoring.

So we hope to hear more information on just who this person is, how it might have been contracted and see if that might shed some light on what the situation is here. But, obviously, a disturbing and sad development in this Ebola story this morning.

PAUL: Ed, how are people in Dallas responding to this latest news?

LAVANDERA: Well, it's early. I don't think most people here have kind of gotten the news. This is something that they will be waking up to here this morning.

But, you know, there have been a great number of people who have been on edge about all of this going on. You know, watching this closely. State health officials have been working hard over the last couple of weeks to temper fears and reassure people that teams were getting the situation under control, a lot of public education kind of geared toward that, toward making sure that anxiety and the nerves of people remain calm in this situation. I'm sure you'll hear that repeatedly throughout the day today as well.

BLACKWELL: All right. Ed Lavandera outside the Texas Health Presbyterian there in Dallas. Thank you so much.

Guys in the control room, ready up those full screens for the statement from Texas health officials.

We do want to tell people before we get to that statement, though, that the worker reported a low fever Friday night and was isolated for testing. They confirmed the preliminary test results overnight.

Now here is the statement from Texas health officials, "We knew a second case could be a reality and we've been preparing for this possibility. We are broadening our team in Dallas and working with extreme diligence to prevent further spread." Officials have interviewed the patient and they're now trying to identify anyone else who may have been exposed.

Of course, we showed you that news conference coming up at 8:30. There will be one after that from the CDC, they say after the testing has been confirmed. After we complete testing in our laboratory, that's going to happen today. No specific time for the CDC presser, though.

PAUL: And we know Elizabeth Cohen has told us the testing in the CDC lab will essentially be a duplicate of what has already been tested. So, we want to bring in Dr. Frank Esper. He's an infectious disease specialist with the University Hospital Case Medical Center.

Dr. Esper, thank you so much for being with us.

Also Dr. William Schaffner, chairman of the Department of Preventive Medicine at Vanderbilt University.

But, Dr. Esper, I want to start with you. Do you see the spread of this as a realistic possibility? Or -- we know that containment is a big part of being able to control this disease. Have they been able, do you think, to contain this in Dallas?

DR. FRANK ESPER, UNIVERSITY HOSPITALS CASE MEDICAL CENTER: You know, the answer is I think we've always expected that there may be another individual who will come down with the Ebola from the transmission of this one particular person, and we always felt that it was going to likely be one of his close contacts or one of the health care workers because that's the way this virus works. It's usually a disease that is spread to close family members or to the people who care for that individual.

I will tell you that the fact that we identified this individual so quickly is actually to me a sign that the system is working, that we are able to contain it, because we knew who this person was. We knew that he was a person that we -- and we know all the people that have been taking care of Mr. Duncan who had the Ebola disease.

So, we knew exactly who to keep a very good eye on when, to test, how quickly to isolate this individual so that we prevent the spread.

BLACKWELL: We've been requesting questions, any concerns from our viewers who obviously have some use the #EbolaQandA.

And, Dr. Schaffner, I want to bring you one here from Pat Humphrey. And she asks can a person spread Ebola from the moment they develop fever? Is fever considered a symptom? Of course, we know that, yes, fever is considered a symptom, but from that first moment of the fever of any symptom, is it now -- are they now contagious?

DR. WILLIAM SCHAFFNER, VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY (via telephone): Yes, Victor and Pat, they are contagious from that moment and fever is indeed an early sign. But at the very earliest stages, they're not as contagious as later in the illness. So, it's not like an on/off switch, it's a gradual process.

So, at the very earliest stages it's not so easy to recover the Ebola virus from the patient. But as the illness develops, the Ebola virus spreads further throughout the body and progressively makes it easier to be transmitted to health care workers and family members who might be caring for that patient with -- in circumstances before the diagnosis is made.

PAUL: Dr. Esper, I wanted to ask you about experimental treatments that have been used in success it seems with a lot of people who have been infected. How readily available are those experimental treatments? And are they something that you would give to every Ebola patient? ESPER: You know, the answer is unfortunately because they are

experimental treatments, they are not readily available. The quantity that we have for many of these medications or anti-sera is pretty small. And because they're experimental, a lot of times, we don't know how much we're supposed to be giving.

A lot of times we may give too much of the antibodies which will then further deplete the supply that we have. What I would tell you, though, is that every individual who does come down with this disease is given a whole range of options. And the range of options include experimental treatment, and it's not required that a patient receives experimental treatment if the patient does not want to receive experimental treatment.

The standard of care is supportive care. The immune system can defeat this virus on its own. However, we believe that these medications kind of tip the balance and may help the patient -- the patient's immune system overcome this virus even more than the patient's immune system can do by itself.

BLACKWELL: Again, we are requesting the questions online, EbolaQandA, #EbolaQandA.

We got an update from the CDC. Their news conference will happen at 11:00 a.m. this morning. First, we're going to hear in about 20 minutes from now from Texas health resources spokesperson, they're going to hold a news conference at 8:30, CDC at 11:00.

Dr. Schaffner, you said something the last time we spoke with you about your confidence in hospitals across the country and their response. I'm going to press you on that, because in a county with as many resources as Dallas County and a hospital system as large as this and they had as many problems as challenges as they had, when you go to a smaller county with fewer resources, is it impossible to see how they would have greater challenges, thinking that they would have as many resources? I guess it comes down to education and having the stuff.

SCHAFFNER: Well, Victor, I think awareness and education are key, early diagnosis is key. Obviously, those smaller hospitals if they made the diagnosis would wish, as with other illnesses that are very, very serious, to transfer the patient to an institution with more elaborate resources.

But as Dr. Esper said the critical aspect of patient to the patients is supportive care. This is the sort of thing that our hospitalists, that is the doctors that work in intensive care units, do every day for patients with a whole variety of illnesses. So, the supportive care, that can be provided. Now, in addition, of course, we have to make sure that everyone who provides that care does so safely using rigorous infection control precautions.

PAUL: All right. Dr. Esper, we appreciate so much -- Dr. Frank Esper, your expertise today and Dr. William Schaffner as well. We'll be talking to you throughout the morning but thank you for taking the time for us today. BLACKWELL: And, of course, we'll have much more on the breaking

Ebola developments. We're also covering the ISIS advance in Syria and in Iraq. President Obama's defense chief is speaking out on the safety in the Iraqi capital. We'll talk about that.

PAUL: And stick with us, we're gathering more information about that new Ebola case out of Dallas. Again, 20 minutes from now we're going to get our first press conference from there. The first confirmed transmission of Ebola inside the U.S.

Much more ahead.

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PAUL: Fourteen minutes past the hour right now.

And the U.S.-led coalition has unleashed new airstrikes on ISIS targets in Iraq as well as Syria.

BLACKWELL: Yes. But that does not seem to be stopping the terror group's advance. There were clashes early this morning in a besieged Syrian town near Turkey. A fighter tells CNN that town, Kobani, is now strangely quiet. That is sparking fears ISIS is, quote, "preparing something."

PAUL: To the south, there have been deadly explosions in parts of Iraq. Now, it's not clear whether ISIS is responsible, but the terror group is tightening its grip on Anbar province we know. The province's leaders are pleading for U.S. ground troops to defend it against is. A U.S. official, however, says it's not going to happen.

BLACKWELL: Now, Anbar is just west of Baghdad. The Obama administration insists Iraqi forces can defend the Iraqi capital.

Joining me now, CNN's senior international correspondent Ben Wedeman in Baghdad and CNN's Erin McPike at the White House.

Ben, I want to start with you. Detail for us these attacks that we've seen in Baghdad most recently.

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Victor, what we saw last night were two very large car bombs in Baghdad itself leaving more than 40 people dead, many more wounded.

Now, earlier today, there were three bombs outside of Baqubah. One was a suicide bomber. One was a remotely detonated car bomb, and a third a suicide car bomber. That left more than 20 dead.

And the situation in Anbar continues to be grim. Last night, the head of -- the chief of police in Ramadi or for all of Anbar province was killed in an IED attack and now, Ramadi, which is a town that is sort of half under the control of ISIS, half under the government, we're told at least in the government areas it is under a 24-hour curfew. So, the situation there grim and getting grimmer.

As far as the capital of Baghdad goes, apart from those car bombs last night, the defenses seem to be holding. U.S. officials, Iraqi officials are confident that they can repulse any possible attempt by ISIS to move on the capital, and the fact is that this is a sprawling city of 9 million people with a Shia majority which is deeply hostile to ISIS itself, so there's confidence that the capital, despite these car bombs, is secure at the moment -- Victor.

BLACKWELL: Let's go to Erin now at the White House. Erin, there seems to be a different degree of confidence that the defense secretary, Chuck Hagel, has in the ISF near and inside Baghdad versus those in other parts of Iraq. Compare and contrast that degree of confidence, if you will.

ERIN MCPIKE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Victor, you may remember that on Friday, Secretary Hagel said that the situation in Anbar province is extremely dire, but then just yesterday he tried to correct the impression that so much of Iraq is in real trouble and especially Baghdad he is saying is safe. Listen to the comments that he made then just yesterday.

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CHUCK HAGEL, DEFENSE SECRETARY: Iraqi security forces are in full control of Baghdad, continue to strengthen their positions in Baghdad. We continue to help them with airstrikes, with our assistance and our advisers, which I have at the direction of President Obama added to our numbers there.

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MCPIKE: But here's the problem: President Obama has been saying over the last couple of months that Iraqi troops have not really kept up their end of the bargain and the reason that Iraq is facing the situation it is now is because Iraqi forces have been weak. And you may remember that although American troops, they keep saying, are not going in as a major ground presence, there are certainly American troops in Baghdad in security roles and they too are help keeping Baghdad safe -- Christi and Victor.

BLACKWELL: They certainly are.

Ben Wedeman in Baghdad, Erin McPike at the White House -- thank you both.

PAUL: And stay right here, we're just about 10 minutes away from a news conference in Dallas where we are learning a second Ebola case has been confirmed in that city. We're going to tell you more as soon as we get that.

Stay close.

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PAUL: All right. So, we're about seven minutes away now from this planned news conference from Texas health officials on the second case of Ebola confirmed in that state. A Dallas health care worker is the latest victim and it begs the question: are U.S. hospitals prepared to deal with Ebola? And if they are, how did this worker get infected?

PAUL: Let's go to David Sanders. He's an associate professor of biological sciences at Purdue University.

David, thank you so much for being with us.

Will you please answer that question for us? How prepared are most U.S. hospitals if an Ebola patient comes to them?

DAVID SANDERS, PURDUE UNIVERSITY: So, there are two issues. One is can they give the treatment that's necessary and the answer is almost all of them can. The question that is more important in my mind is, do they have the containment facilities?

And it's not just a matter of equipment. It is a matter of training, and that training has to be extremely rigorous. And I would say that the best approach would to be focus on particular regional hospitals and make sure that they have the best training and that that's where the cases should be treated.

It shouldn't just be treated at any hospital. We cannot expect that that rigorous level of training is provided to health care workers at every single hospital in the United States.

BLACKWELL: We've been soliciting questions on Twitter.

C. Wall (ph) has the natural follow-up. "If a health care worker trained to contain germs and wearing gloves and handling fluids can get Ebola, how safe is the average person?"

SANDERS: Well, one hopes that the average person isn't going to be exposed to an Ebola patient that's actually exhibiting symptoms. I mean, that's -- once again, it's very important to emphasize that Ebola is only transmitted once one has the visible symptoms. And so, it's really a matter -- we don't know right now at what point this person was exposed. Was it before they knew that there was Ebola or after Ebola -- that it was an Ebola case? We don't really know that.

So, until we have that information, we can't really speculate about the nature of the contact. But health care workers are at risk. They are actually heroically performing their responsibilities. But it's important that they receive the proper training so that they can protect themselves as well as protect the public.

BLACKWELL: You know, this next question speaks to the trustworthiness that people have in hospitals. Debra asks, "Are all hospitals in the U.S. required to let the public know if they're treating a patient who has Ebola? Is there a protocol?"

SANDERS: I actually can't answer that question. I don't know what the answer to that question is. Sorry.

PAUL: OK. Dr. David Sanders -- excuse me, David Sanders, we appreciate you being with us. Thank you so much.

BLACKWELL: Thank you, Professor. PAUL: And again, we're just four minutes away from this news

conference out of Dallas. We're going to be back in just a moment.

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