Is Amber Vinson Free Of Ebola? Dallas Nurse Tests Negative For Virus, Family Says

Amber Vinson, the second Dallas nurse to contract Ebola, apparently tested negative for the virus Wednesday, NBC Fort Worth reported. She does not have signs of the infection in her blood anymore, a week after she was hospitalized at an Atlanta hospital for the potentially deadly virus, her family said. Vinson will reportedly be transferred to a different unit at Emory University Hospital, where she will still be treated in the serious communicable diseases unit.

In a statement released by her family, Vinson is “steadily regaining her strength and her spirits are high.”

“As of yesterday evening, officials at Emory University Hospital and the Centers for Disease Control are no longer able to detect the virus in her body,” the statement said, according to Fox Dallas-Fort Worth. “She has also been approved for transfer from isolation.”

Vinson was diagnosed on Oct. 15, a week after she treated Thomas Eric Duncan at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas. Nina Pham, who is also a nurse at the hospital, contracted the disease from Duncan. She has been listed as in “good” condition and is being treated at National Institutes of Health medical center in Maryland.

“Amber and our family are ecstatic to receive this latest report on her condition,” Vinson’s mother, Debra Berry, said in a statement, according to NBC News. “We all know that further treatment will be necessary as Amber continues to regain strength, but these latest developments have truly answered prayers and bring our family one step closer to reuniting with her at home.”

However, Janet Christenbury, a spokeswoman for Emory University Hospital, told the Dallas Morning News she was “not aware” of Vinson being free of Ebola. Christenbury promised to give an update as soon as possible.

Jason McDonald, spokeswoman for the CDC, also said he was “not aware” of Vinson being free of the disease. “Healthcare provider will determine by diagnostic whether a patient is free of Ebola virus,” he told the Dallas Morning News in an email. “We have criteria we ask medical staff to meet but the determination is made by medical care provider.”

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