Hospital 'Dropped The Ball' With Ebola Patient's Travel History, NIH Official Says.

The first person to be diagnosed with Ebola on American soil went to the emergency room last week, but was released from the hospital even though he told staff he had traveled from Liberia.

"A travel history was taken, but it wasn't communicated to the people who

were making the decision. ... It was a mistake. They dropped the ball," said Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

"You don't want to pile on them, but hopefully this will never happen again. ... The CDC has been vigorously emphasizing the need for a travel history," Fauci told CNN's "The Lead with Jake Tapper."

Hospital officials have acknowledged that the patient's travel history wasn't "fully communicated" to doctors, but also said in a statement Wednesday that based on his symptoms, there was no reason to admit him when he first came to the emergency room last Thursday night.

"At that time, the patient presented with low-grade fever and abdominal pain. His condition did not warrant admission. He also was not exhibiting symptoms specific to Ebola," Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas said.

The patient, identified by his half-brother as Thomas Eric Duncan, told hospital staff that he was from Liberia, a friend who knows him well said.

A nurse asked the patient about his recent travels while he was in the emergency room, and the patient said he had been in Africa, said Dr. Mark Lester, executive vice president of Texas Health Resources. But that information was not "fully communicated" to the medical team, Lester said.

The man underwent basic blood tests, but not an Ebola screening, and was sent home with antibiotics, said Dr. Edward Goodman with Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital.

Three days later, the man returned to the facility, where it was determined that he probably had Ebola. He was then isolated.

"The hospital followed all suggested CDC protocols at that time. Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas' staff is thoroughly trained in infection control procedures and protocols," the hospital said Wednesday.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which has helped lead the international response to Ebola, advises that all medical facilities should ask patients with symptoms consistent with Ebola for their travel history.

Duncan's travel history "was not acted upon in an appropriate way," said Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN's Chief Medical Correspondent.

"A nurse did ask the question and he did respond that he was in Liberia and that wasn't transmitted to people who were in charge of his care," Gupta said. "There's no excuse for this."

A U.S. official told CNN senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen that the situation was clearly "a screw-up." A patient who shows up to a hospital with a fever and a history of travel to Liberia should be treated as an infection risk, the official said.

Asked repeatedly by Gupta whether the patient should have been tested for Ebola during his first visit to the hospital, CDC Director Dr. Thomas Frieden said officials were still looking at details about how the case was handled.

"We know that in busy emergency departments all over the country, people may not ask travel histories. I don't know if that was done here," Frieden said. "But we need to make sure that it is done going forward."

Source: CNN