Early Wednesday morning, news that Thomas Eric Duncan, the first patient diagnosed with Ebola virus in the United States, passed away due to the disease. Duncan's health took a turn for the worst over the weekend and succumbed to the virus after just 18 days of infection. The patient is believed to have exposed about 50 other people to the Ebola virus in the country, including Louise Troh, his fiancée, and her children. The family remains quarantined and is being kept under close observation by Dallas health officials to monitor whether they, too, would develop symptoms of the disease over the 21-day incubation period.
On Monday, Duncan received brincidofovir, an experimental antiviral preparation. However, his condition did not seem to show any significant signs of improvement. According to his family, they became to visit him on Tuesday but they described him as medically sedated and unresponsive. A spokesperson from the Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital issued a statement saying, "He fought courageously in this battle. Our professionals, the doctors and nurses in the unit, as well as the entire Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas community, are also grieving his passing. We have offered the family our support and condolences at this time."
The patient's body has already been shipped to the Dallas County morgue where it will be disposed of appropriately through cremation or burial in a hermetically sealed casket. Prior to this, Duncan body was handled according to guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to ensure that no other people are put at risk. Even after death, the bodies of Ebola patients still carry the virus and people could still get exposed to be infection by coming in contact with their blood or sweat. The guidelines recommend that the body, with all its tubes and medical lines still attached, be wrapped immediately in a plastic shroud and then sealed in two sets of leak-proof body bags prior to disposal. Officials also recommend that embalming or performing an autopsy be skipped to avoid any unnecessary contact with the patient's bodily fluids that still harbors the virus.