NEW YORK CITY — A 5-year-old boy was being tested for Ebola and had developed a fever Monday after recently returning to the city from one of the West African countries reeling from the deadly epidemic, officials say.
The 5-year-old Bronx boy was isolated in Bellevue Hospital with his mother, who was not showing symptoms, while officials awaited test results which should come about 7 p.m., Mayor Bill de Blasio said during a Monday press conference.
He and his family returned to JFK airport Saturday after a trip to Guinea, sources said. He developed signs of an illness about 9 p.m. Sunday so medical crews in hazmat gear took him to Bellevue where he developed a fever about 7 a.m. the next morning, sources and officials said.
Meanwhile, a doctor who became the city's first Ebola patient was in stable condition Monday while his fiancée returned home under quarantine, officials said.
The doctor, Craig Spencer, 33, of Harlem, started experiencing gastrointestinal symptoms Saturday, but improved by the next day after the Bellevue medical team administered plasma therapy, HHC officials said.
"The patient looks better than he looked yesterday, but he remains in serious but stable condition with the expected symptoms of the virus," HHC president Dr. Ram Raju said in a statement Sunday.
"He tolerated the plasma treatment and had a good nights sleep," Raju added.
Spencer's fiancée, Morgan Dixon, who had been at Bellevue since the doctor was admitted on Oct. 23, was allowed to return home under quarantine, officials said.
Spencer was the first person in New York City to be diagnosed with the deadly virus, which prompted officials to aggressively tamp down fear while implementing heightened security procedures to halt any potential spread.
"We will do whatever is needed to put the health and safety of the people first," Gov. Andrew Cuomo said in a statement Friday announcing new airport screening procedures.
Spencer returned to the city on Oct. 17 after volunteering with Doctors Without Borders to care for patients who contracted Ebola in Guinea, officials said. He didn't display any symptoms during his flight home.
On Oct. 21 and 22, he went about his daily life with his fiancée, visiting a bowling alley with friends, shopping for food and going to eateries.
On Oct. 23, he registered a 100-degree fever and notified authorities who brought him to the hospital where he tested positive for Ebola, officials said.
Cuomo and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie announced new quarantine measures at JFK and Newark airports for all people returning from West African countries who had contact with Ebola patients Friday.
Those measures drew fire for being overly harsh. The first person quarantined under the protocols, nurse Kaci Hickox, stirred outrage when she was isolated in a Newark hospital with a portable toilet but no shower after officials mistook her elevated temperature for a fever, according to the New York Times.
New Jersey officials announced Monday morning that Hickox, who had hired a lawyer, would be released and transported to Maine.
"She should never have been quarantined in the first place. She is very happy to be going home and out of New Jersey," said Hickox's lawyer, Steven Hyman.
Cuomo on Sunday adjusted New York protocols to allow those who have had contact with Ebola-stricken patients but don't show any symptoms themselves to return home under quarantine for 21 days. They'll be subject to two unannounced visits daily by government health officials, according to the governor's office.
Still, activists said the more relaxed measures could be harsh enough to dissuade volunteers from risking their health to fight the epidemic in West Africa.
"We need to encourage health workers to continue to go to those countries in Africa that have been devastated by Ebola," said Guillermo Chacon, the president of the Latino Commission on AIDS during a Monday press conference.
"We are truly concerned that putting people on 21-day quarantine will not encourage that," he added.
