DALLAS — Amber Vinson, the 29-year-old nurse identified as the second Texas hospital worker to test positive for Ebola, lived alone in a quiet neighborhood of this anxious city.
Police on Wednesday restricted traffic on Village Bend Drive, home of The Village apartments as residents came to grips with the knowledge that Ebola had sprouted in their otherwise tranquil community.
Vinson helped care for Ebola patient Thomas Eric Duncan at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says Vinson had been monitoring herself for symptoms when she reported to the hospital with a low-grade fever Tuesday.
She was immediately placed in an isolation unit, then tested positive for the killer virus. She was being sent to Atlanta's Emory University Hospital for treatment.
On Wednesday morning, Vinson's neighbors were blitzed with pre-dawn, reverse 911 calls, fliers and even knocks on the door by wary police officers. A hazardous materials crew was sweeping through Vinson's apartment.
Local resident James Coltharp, 50, told USA TODAY he's most concerned about the common areas — the tennis courts, local pool and nearby stores — that Vinson may have visited.
"I just hope we're being told correctly how it spreads," he said while walking his two Boston terriers. "There's definitely concern, but not panic."
Coltharp said all of the city's Ebola victims so far have lived near or around Greenville Avenue in northeast Dallas. The hospital's emergency room is also located on the thoroughfare. Duncan, who died a week ago, lived less than a mile away. Nurse Nina Pham, who officials say remains hospitalized here in good condition, lives about 2 miles away.
Now the virus is just 100 yards away from his home, Coltharp said.
"Greenville Avenue seems to be the vein of Ebola," he said. "It seems to be getting closer and closer. We thought we had dodged a bullet and then — boom, boom — here we go again."
Lindsay London told The Dallas Morning News she woke up around 5 a.m. to police banging on the door. She told the website she quickly realized a neighbor had been diagnosed with Ebola.
"But after that initial panic, it was like all right," London said. "This isn't a crazy outbreak yet. It's close to home, so I need to be careful. But it's not going to prevent me from going to work or anything like that."
Health care officials had warned that additional cases of Ebola were to be expected in the days and weeks following Duncan's death. Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings stressed that again at a sullen news conference Wednesday.
"It may get worse before it gets better," he said. "But it will get better."
Contributing: John Bacon
Source: http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/10/15/dallas-vinson-neighbors/17308431/
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