Ebola Outbreak Latest News: Health Worker Exposed To Deadly Virus Arrives In Nebraska
An American health worker who was highly exposed to the Ebola virus while serving in Sierra Leone reportedly arrived in Omaha, Nebraska, on Sunday for possible treatment.
The health worker -- whose name, gender, or age have not been disclosed -- arrived through a private air ambulance for a 21-day observation period and has so far shown no sign of Ebola.
"This patient has been exposed to the virus but is not ill and is not contagious," said Phil Smith, medical director of Nebraska Medicine's Biocontainment Unit.
"However, we will be taking all appropriate precautions. This patient will be under observation in the same room used for treatment of the first three patients and will be carefully monitored to see if Ebola disease develops," he added.
The health worker will be cared for by the same team in-charge of other patients in the institution.
"This patient will be observed for development of infection during the 21-day incubation period of the disease, both by monitoring for symptoms and through blood tests," Dr. Smith said.
Nebraska Medicine has already treated three Ebola patients. Two patients -- Dr. Richard Sacra and NBC cameraman Ashoka Mukpo -- have been released last September and October, respectively.
The third patient, Dr. Martin Salia, passed away after barely two days of treatment in last November.
Ebola, a kind of hemorrhagic fever, has struck six West African countries and killed almost 8,000 in Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Liberia. It was first identified in Guinea early last year.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there have been 20,416 Ebola cases and over 13,000 laboratory-confirmed cases as of Dec. 31 last year.
The CDC confirmed the first laboratory-tested case of Ebola in the United States last September in a man who moved to Dallas, Texas, from Liberia. After developing Ebola symptoms, he sought care at the Texas Presbyterian Hospital of Dallas but later passed away on Oct. 8.