How far will it spread? A New York doctor has tested positive for Ebola

A New York doctor who had recently returned from Guinea has tested positive for Ebola, the fourth person diagnosed with the disease in the United States.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - Craig Spencer worked for Doctors Without Borders where he was treating Ebola patients in West Africa, the 33-year-old returned to the U.S. on October 17 after finishing his work.

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Though he had been in the country for a little under a week, he did not exhibit any symptoms of the disease until the morning of October 23, when he contacted medical authorities in New York.

Spencer-who workers at Columbia Presbyterian-had checked his temperature twice a day, and had not seen any patients, though he was not under quarantine.

On the morning of the 23 he developed a fever, nausea, pain and fatigue. Though he had felt sluggish a couple days before that, his 100.3 degree fever didn't occur until the day he had the rest of the symptoms.

Spencer had been in contact with a few people before he developed symptoms, authorities reported.

Though Ebola is not contagious until an infected individual develops symptoms, Spencer's fiancee and two of his friends are being placed in quarantine and monitored.

Spencer had traveled on three subway lines and visited a bowling alley in Brooklyn the day before his symptoms appeared, but medical officials have determined that the bowling alley is safe and does not pose a risk to customers.

"At the time that the doctor was on the subway, he did not have fever ... he was not symptomatic," New York City health commissioner Dr. Mary Travis Bassett said.

Spencer is now in New York's Bellevue Hospital Center, where he has been in isolation since he was first brought there by medical personnel.

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