On Oct. 23, Dr. Craig Spencer was confirmed to have contracted the often-deadly Ebola virus. He had just returned to New York City after treating patients in Guinea for Doctors Without Borders and, upon spiking a fever, was rushed to Bellevue Hospital. Emergency workers who dealt with Spencer apparently got their official protocol correct because in the weeks since his initial diagnosis no one else has contracted the disease.
On Monday afternoon, Nov. 10, The New York Times confirmed that Spencer is now Ebola-free and scheduled for release this afternoon.
The plan to release Spencer has not been publicly announced, but was confirmed Monday by two people familiar with his treatment but who declined to be identified because they did not have permission to release the information. A spokeswoman for Bellevue did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
It was unclear Monday whether Spencer would return to his Hamilton Heights apartment, where his fiancee, Morgan Dixon, is under quarantine. Two friends who had contact with him in the days before his diagnosis were initially held in quarantine, but recently released. Spencer was given every treatment available, including an experimental drug and blood plasma donated by a recovered Ebola patient, Nancy Writebol, a 59-year-old missionary who contracted the virus in Liberia, said a Times source.
Spencer's initial diagnosis set off a bit of panic because just hours before getting sick he had been hopscotching all over the city with friends, leaving many to worry about contamination. Luckily, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's guidelines by late October proved to be on point, leaving only Spencer infected. A few days after being admitted to Bellevue his condition worsened, but those who treat Ebola patients say a negative turn is almost always the case, even for those who manage to ultimately beat the virus.
Spencer, by last week, was reportedly working out on a stationary bike and playing his banjo while quarantined. Each of the U.S. patients who have recovered have received a blood plasma transfusion by a recovered former Ebola patient.
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