US sets up rapid-response Ebola team

ONE CONTACT WITH NURSE

One person known to have had close contact with the Dallas nurse Pham has been put under observation in the hospital in case he develops signs of Ebola, the CBS Dallas television station reported on Tuesday.

The man, who has not been identified, is an employee of global eye care company Alcon, a unit of the drug company Novartis. The company was not available to comment.

White House Budget Director Shaun Donovan pressed US lawmakers to speed up funds to fight Ebola, including the remaining $250 million in requested Defense Department money under review.

"The rapid spread of the Ebola virus in West Africa shows that time is of the essence. Given the nature of this crisis, every minute counts," Donovan wrote in an Oct 10 letter to Appropriations Chairman Harold Rogers and ranking Democrat Nita Lowey.

Meanwhile, the family who shared an apartment with Duncan after he arrived in Texas is showing no signs of illness, Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings said on CNN.

The infection of the Dallas nurse is the second known to have occurred outside West Africa since the outbreak that began in March. It follows the transmission of the virus to a Spanish nurse in Madrid who helped treat a missionary who was repatriated from Sierra Leone and died of Ebola. The nurse was slightly better on Tuesday and remains the only known case in Spain.

Ebola screening starts at New York's JFK airport	Spain euthanizes pet dog of Ebola-infected woman