5 Reasons Why US Ebola Victim Died

Liberian, Thomas Eric Duncan was the first
Ebola case to be diagnosed in the US and
became the first person to die of the
disease on US soil

The US recorded its first Ebola-related death

on October 8 after Liberian, Thomas Eric

Duncan died in Texas of the disease.

Duncan was also the first person to be

diagnosed with the disease in the US after he

reportedly contracted it from his country

before departing for the States on September

20.

All other Ebola patients who have been treated

in the US have survived. Here are five possible

reasons why Duncan did not

1. The disease wasn’t diagnosed on time :

Thomas Eric Duncan arrived the US on

September 20 and visited the Texas

Health Presbyterian Hospital 6 days later

after he began to exhibit Ebola

symptoms. However, he was given

antibiotics and sent home. Duncan was

officially diagnosed with Ebola on

September 30 after he was well into the

throes of the disease.

2. He had to wait six days to get

treatment: According to CNN, the

Liberian patient had to wait till October

4, six days after admission to the

hospital, to get treated with an

experimental drug. He was said to have

gone into critical condition the same day.

3. He was given an untested drug not

ZMapp: Duncan wasn’t given ZMapp, the

drug which was successfully used to treat

Keith Brantly and the other American

who caught the disease. Instead, he was

given brincidofovir and was the first

Ebola patient to receive the drug.

4. He wasn’t given the blood of a

survivor: The blood of Ebola survivors

has been proven to aid recovery of those

still infected. Brantly has donated his

blood to 2 other America patients but

none was given to Duncan.

5. The hospital wasn’t prepared : The

hospitals in which the earlier Ebola

victims were treated in the US were

expecting the patients but the hospital in

which Thomas Duncan was admitted was

not expecting an Ebola patient.