A surgeon who became infected with Ebola while in Sierra Leone, the West Africa country hard-hit by the virus, has arrived in Nebraska for treatment.
Dr. Martin Salia, 44, was being transported to the Nebraska Medical Center after landing at an Air Force base in Omaha.
Salia was diagnosed on Monday while still in Africa. His condition is considered critical. Nebraska Medical Center said in a statement that Salia is "possibly sicker than the first patients successfully treated in the United States."
The Associated Press says:
"Salia was working as a general surgeon at Kissy United Methodist Hospital in the Sierra Leone capital of Freetown. Kissy is not an Ebola treatment unit, but Salia worked in at least three other facilities, United Methodist News said, citing health ministry sources. "Salia is a Sierra Leone citizen who lives in Maryland."
Last month, Dallas nurse Nina Pham — who became infected with Ebola after treating Liberian patient Thomas Eric Duncan — was declared Ebola-free and discharged from a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention facility in Bethesda, Md. Days later, fellow nurse Amber Vinson, who also contracted the disease after treating Duncan, was released from Emory University in Atlanta.
Duncan died from the disease on Oct. 8.
Last week, Dr. Craig Spencer of New York, who was diagnosed with Ebola in Guinea, was also declared free of the disease and released.
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