A top official at a US hospital apologised Thursday for mishandling the country's first and now deceased Ebola patient Thomas Eric Duncan who infected two other nurses caring for him.
"Unfortunately, in our initial treatment of Mr. Duncan, despite our best intentions and a highly skilled medical team, we made mistakes," Daniel Varga, chief clinical officer at Texas Health Resources, said in written testimony prepared for a House subcommittee hearing.
"We did not correctly diagnose his symptoms as those of Ebola. We are deeply sorry."
Duncan went to Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital, Dallas, one of the 13 hospitals in the Texas Health Resources system, Sep 25, with Ebola-like symptoms, only to be dismissed with antibiotics, even after telling workers he was from Liberia.
Duncan was transported to the hospital by ambulance Sep 28 as his condition worsened. He tested positive for Ebola two days later and died Oct 8.
Varga also admitted that the hospital "inadvertently provided some information that was inaccurate and had to be corrected" to the public, Xinhua reported.
"No doubt that was unsettling to a community that was already concerned and confused, and we have learned from that experience as well."
