New York doctor tests positive for Ebola

The man, named as 33-year-old Craig Spencer, returned to New York on October 17, having worked in Guinea with the charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF).

"Today testing confirmed that a patient here in New York City had tested positive for Ebola," New York Mayor Bill de Blasio told a press conference late on Thursday.

The man, complaining of gastrointestinal symptoms and exhibiting a temperature, was said to have been rushed from his home in Harlem by ambulance to New York's Bellevue Hospital.

Spencer was said to have contacted both MSF and health officials, and was taken to hospital by medical staff wearing full Hazmat gear.

Although the man had visited pubic places before developing a fever, New York Health Commissioner Mary Travis Bassett said it was very unlikely he could have infected anyone.

"I think that the thing to make clear is that the first time this patient had fever was today (Thursday) and fever is a typical sign of a patient having contagious Ebola," Commissioner Bassett said.

Patient visited bowling alley

The day before entering hospital, Bassett said Spencer had used the subway to visit a bowling alley and restaurant. "He did leave his apartment," said Bassett. "I don't want to give the impression that he was self-quarantining."

However, Bassett said the danger of having infected someone by casual contact was close to zero. "He did not have a stage of disease that created a risk at the time he was on the subway," she said.

Three contacts - two friends and Spencer's fiancée - were being observed and would be tested only if they developed symptoms. The fiancée was said to be in isolation in hospital.

The US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said Spencer had "participated in the enhanced screening for all returning travelers from (Ebola-affected) countries" on his arrival at New York's JFK airport. Earlier on Thursday, US health officials had already said they were tightening the health screening procedure for air passengers traveling from West Africa.

In Texas earlier this week, dozens of people who last month were in contact with the first diagnosed patient in the US were released from quarantine, having shown no signs of being infected.

The World Health Organization - which has expressed hope a vaccine might be found by January - said on Wednesday the disease has killed at least 4,877 people, with 9,936 in total having been affected.

rc/av (AP, AFP, dpa, Reuters)