Texas Medical Task Force Plans Hearing on Ebola

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Members of a Texas task force on Ebola have scheduled their first public hearing as a nurse who contracted the disease remains hospitalized in Dallas.

The Texas Task Force on Infectious Disease Preparedness and Response convenes next Thursday, Oct. 23, at the State Capitol in Austin.

The 15-member panel will hear invited testimony from expert witnesses involved in infectious disease identification and response.

Nurse Nina Pham was among about 70 staffers at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas who cared for Ebola patient Thomas Eric Duncan. He died last Wednesday.

Gov. Rick Perry days earlier created the task force to develop recommendations and a comprehensive state plan to deal with emerging infectious diseases. An initial draft is expected Dec. 1. The proposal goes to Perry and to the 2015 Legislature.