Another Texas City Evaluating Patient With 'Signs and Symptoms of Ebola

Just hours after the first Ebola patient diagnosed in the U.S. died of the viral disease, another Texas city said it is investigating a second possible case.

According to KXAS-TV, officials in Frisco, Texas, which is less than 30 miles from Dallas where Thomas Eric Duncan was cared for in isolation until his death, said a person "exhibiting signs and symptoms of Ebola" was taken into care Wednesday.

The news station reported that shortly after noon, the health clinic CareNow called officials, saying it had a patient in its facility who said he had contact with Duncan. However, Thomas Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said at a news conference Wednesday afternoon that there was "no definite contact" and "no definite symptoms" in this patient just yet.

WFAA-TV's chopper followed an ambulance transporting the possible Ebola patient. (Image source: WFAA-TV)

At a later afternoon press conference in Frisco, the police chief corrected that the patient said he had contact with Duncan's family members and was in the apartment where he had been staying. The patient, however, did not have direct contact with Duncan himself. The chief also said that this patient was not considered one of the 48 being monitored in the Dallas area by the CDC.

The patient would need to undergo formal testing before it can be confirmed a positive case or not.

The city's spokeswoman Dana Baird told KXAS the proper emergency responders transported the patient to another facility, later identified as Texas Health Resources in Dallas, and evaluated the staff and patients the CareNow clinic.

WFAA-TV reported that a gray SUV was taped off by officials and patients in the CareNow facility were isolated. Eventually, those in the facility were released and it was reopened.

During the news conference, officials said CareNow called in other authorities after following the CDC's guidelines for preliminary screenings.

"While we are being told the risk is minimal, in an over abundance of caution we are taking several actions," Frisco Mayor Maher Maso said.

Though not confirmed in the Frisco news conference, WFAA identified the patient as Sgt. Michael Monning, who went with health officials into the apartment where Duncan had stayed before going to the hospital, regarding a quarantine order.

A sign on the door of the apartment where Thomas Eric Duncan stayed with family warns that the unit has been quarantined by the commissioner of health, Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2014, in Dallas. Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas, where Duncan was being treated for Ebola, said that Duncan has died. (AP/Tony Gutierrez)

The CDC has already made contact with dozens of people who might have encountered Duncan, the Liberian man who flew to the U.S. before exhibiting symptoms of Ebola. Ten people, including seven health workers, had direct contact with Duncan while he was contagious. Another 38 people also may have come into contact with him.

Everyone who potentially had contact with Duncan is being monitored for 21 days, the normal incubation period for the disease.

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This story has been updated to include more information.

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The Associated Press contributed to this report.