Kids Being Monitored After Having Contact With Texas Ebola Patient

 Five children are being monitored in the Dallas, Texas area after a patient carrying the Ebola virus in the U.S. reportedly had contact with them over the weekend.

The children were reportedly in school this week after having contact with the patient over the weekend, but after the patient was admitted to Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital, the children were pulled out of school and are being monitored by their parents.

Dallas Independent School District Superintendent Mike Miles told the Associated Press on Wednesday that it's highly unlikely other children at the school have been infected with the virus, as none of the five children were showing symptoms, such as vomiting or diarrhea, that are necessary for the deadly disease to spread.

As an added precaution, extra health staff are being deployed at the schools to monitor any children for symptoms.

The male patient, who recently returned to Dallas after visiting Liberia, is being kept in a "strict isolation unit" after he tested positive for the Ebola virus on Sunday. The man, whose name has not been released, is reportedly in serious condition as he undergoes treatment for the disease.

President Obama has reportedly been briefed on the man's condition by Dr. Tom Frieden, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"The President and Director Frieden discussed the stringent isolation protocols under which the patient is being treated as well as ongoing efforts to trace the patient's contacts to mitigate the risk of additional cases," the White House said in a statement on Tuesday. "Dr. Frieden noted that the CDC had been prepared for an Ebola case in the United States, and that we have the infrastructure in place to respond safely and effectively."