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NYC Officials Trace Ebola Patient’s Steps as Mayor Urges Calm

2 minute read
By Justin Worland

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio reassured residents Friday that the city is prepared to treat Ebola patients and is not at risk of a widespread Ebola outbreak, as health officials worked to clear anyone who may have come into contact with the city’s first patient.

“New Yorkers who have not been exposed to an infected person’s bodily fluids are simply not at risk,” said DeBlasio at a Friday press conference. “We’ve had clear and strong protocols from the beginning, and they have been followed to the letter.”

Health officials are currently contacting everyone Ebola patient Craig Spencer may have come into contact with since Tuesday morning “in an abundance of caution,” according to New York City Health Commissioner Mary Travis Bassett. Spencer, a doctor who returned from Guinea on Oct. 17, was diagnosed with Ebola Thursday.

Spencer’s fiancee, along with two friends, has been quarantined and restricted from public spaces. Gutter and Blue Bottle, a bowling alley and coffee shop visited by the patient, have been cleared and reopened, and a third establishment, the Meatball Shop, is closed temporarily but is expected to be cleared.

See The Tobacco Leaves That Could Cure Ebola

An worker inspects the Nicotiana benthamiana plants at Medicago greenhouse in Quebec City
Tobacco plants are grown for six weeks in the Medicago greenhouse in Quebec City so their leaves are large enough to serve as a factory for making antibodies. The plants are not modified or genetically altered in any way during this time.Mathieu Belanger—Reuters
Icon Genetics Provides Technology For Possible Ebola Treatment
Researchers at Icon Genetics in Germany prepare the DNA coding for antibodies that can neutralize Ebola. These genes are inserted into a soil bacterium that easily infects the tobacco plant cells. Once in the cells, the gene is treated like any other plant gene and the plant starts churning out the antibodies.Sean Gallup—Getty Images
Nicotiana benthamiana plants are dipped in a solution during the infiltration process at Medicago greenhouse in Quebec City
To infect the leaves with the antibody-containing bacteria, the plants are submerged in a water solution of the loaded bacteria. Plant cells have plenty of empty spaces filled with air, so a vacuum removes the air and the water, along with the bacteria and antibody genes, flow in.Mathieu Belanger—Reuters
An worker shows the difference between the leaf of the Nicotiana benthamiana plant before (top) and after (botom) the infiltration process at Medicago greenhouse in Quebec City
The leaf at the bottom has not been treated. The leaf on top is now an antibody-making factory. The plant's normal machinery starts making the antibody as if it is a plant protein.Mathieu Belanger—Reuters
Icon Genetics Provides Technology For Possible Ebola Treatment
Researchers at Icon Genetics grind the leaves down to filter out the antibodies.Sean Gallup—Getty Images
Icon Genetics Provides Technology For Possible Ebola Treatment
Ultraviolet light reveals the clusters of cells that are busy making antibodies. One kg of leaves produces about 5g of antibodies, which is about a third of the dose required to treat an Ebola patient.Sean Gallup—Getty Images

A Metropolitan Transportation Authority official told TIME that the city’s subway system is safe to ride, but noted that protocols had been updated to ensure safe handling of any potentially infectious waste. Spencer reportedly rode the subway from his home in Harlem to Brooklyn Wednesday.

Spencer is being treated in an isolation unit at New York’s Bellevue Hospital. He is in stable condition and communicating with friends via cell phone, officials said.

–additional reporting by Alice Park

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Write to Justin Worland at justin.worland@time.com