HOUSTON, Texas — An emergency room nurse from Dallas’ Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital came forward and claimed that Thomas Eric Duncan, the Liberian man who brought Ebola into the U.S., lied to hospital staff about his exposure to the virus.
On CBS’ “60 Minutes,” nurse Sidia Rose said that Duncan continued to lie — even after he was admitted to Texas Presbyterian and was projectile vomiting and suffering from severe diarrhea.
According to Rose, Duncan claimed he had not been around anyone who had died prior to coming to the United States. Despite this, the nurse said she was still “very frightened” by the Liberian man’s condition.
In reality, Duncan traveled to the U.S. after coming in contact with a pregnant woman infected with Ebola in Liberia. He was in Dallas for several days before he began showing symptoms of the deadly disease.
Many believe that Duncan lied about his contact with the sick woman so that he could come to the U.S. and receive medical treatment.
Rose said on CBS that she cleaned up Duncan’s infected bodily fluids. Rose asked him if he had had exposure to infected individuals in Liberia but he insisted “no. He said no,” the nurse told CBS. Later on Duncan told Rose that “his family had suffered a loss. That he had buried his daughter who had died in childbirth.”
According to the Daily Mail, almost 4,700 people have contracted Ebola in Liberia alone. More than half of those individuals have passed away as a result of the deadly virus.
Follow Kristin Tate on Twitter @KristinBTate.
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