Man Caught on Video Assisting Dallas Ebola Patient Without Hazmat Suit

A man seen assisting an Ebola patient board a plane in Dallas this week without wearing any kind of protective gear has sparked further concerns about safety protocols in regard to containing the virus.

In news footage above aired by NBC, the unidentified man can be seen helping with the transfer of Ebola patient Amber Vinson at Dallas’ Love Field airfield, who was being taken to Emory University Hospital in Atlanta by private jet following her recent diagnosis.

It is unclear from the footage how much, if any, risk the man was in: Ebola is spread through contact with bodily fluids and is not an airborne disease. The man also does not appear to have been directly touching Vinson, who was herself wearing protective gear to contain the spread of the virus alongside four other people in hazmat suits.

Still, the footage arrives amid great concern over how the virus has spread despite the safety precautions at Dallas’ Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital. Vinson, 29, is the second Texas health worker to have been diagnosed with the often deadly virus in the U.S. She, like 26-year-old nurse Nina Pham before her, helped care for and had “extensive contact with” Thomas Eric Duncan, who died from Ebola earlier this month. A nurses union has criticized the hospital for failing to put safety protocols in place.

The ambulance service that took Vinson to the airport said the man, who boarded the plane, is likely part of the the flight’s air crew, NBC reports.

[NBC]

See The Tobacco Leaves That Could Cure Ebola

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

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

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

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

Researchers at Icon Genetics grind the leaves down to filter out the antibodies.

Sean Gallup—Getty Images

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

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Write to Nolan Feeney at nolan.feeney@time.com.