WILL WEISSERT, Associated Press
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — The state health commissioner says Texas has a strong response system capable of preventing an Ebola outbreak — even though human error is always a possibility.
Health and Human Services Commission executive director Kyle Janek says Texans “should be confident of our ability to get our arms around” the virus.
His comments came at a Texas Senate committee hearing Tuesday in Austin.
At Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas, officials list Thomas Eric Duncan, the first confirmed U.S. case of Ebola, in critical condition.
Duncan was sent home following an initial hospital visit, despite telling medical personnel he’d traveled in Liberia. He was eventually diagnosed with Ebola.
A hospital official told the committee it’s paying for Duncan’s treatment for now. It was unclear, though, if he’ll remain a “charity case.”