The first case of Ebola diagnosed in the US has been confirmed in a man who recently traveled from Liberia to Dallas, sending chills through the area’s West African community, whose leaders urged caution to prevent spreading the virus.
The unidentified man was critically ill and has been in an isolation room at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital since Sunday, federal health officials said on Tuesday. They would not reveal his nationality or age.
Authorities have begun tracking down family, friends and anyone else who may have come in close contact with him and could be at risk. Officials said there are no other suspected cases in Texas.
US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Tom Frieden said the man left Liberia on Sept. 19, arrived the next day to visit relatives and started feeling ill four or five days later.
Frieden said it was not clear how the man became infected.
“It is certainly possible someone who had contact with this individual could develop Ebola in the coming weeks,” he told a press conference in Atlanta, Georgia.
“I have no doubt that we’ll stop this in its tracks in the US, but I also have no doubt that — as long as the outbreak continues in Africa — we need to be on our guard,” Frieden said. “But there is no doubt in my mind that we will stop it here.”
Stanley Gaye, president of the Liberian Community Association of Dallas-Fort Worth, said the 10,000-strong Liberian population in North Texas is skeptical of the CDC’s assurances because Ebola has ravaged their country.
“We’ve been telling people to try to stay away from social gatherings,” Gaye said at a community meeting on Tuesday evening.
Large get-togethers are a prominent part of Liberian culture.
“We need to know who it is so that they [family members] can all go get tested,” Gaye said. “If they are aware, they should let us know.”
The association’s vice president encouraged all who may have come in contact with the virus to visit a doctor and she warned against alarm in the community.
“We don’t want to get a panic going,” vice president Roseline Sayon said. “We embrace those people who are coming forward. Don’t let the stigma keep you from getting tested.”
Frieden said he did not believe anyone on the same flights as the patient was at risk.
“Ebola doesn’t spread before someone gets sick and he didn’t get sick until four days after he got off the airplane,” Frieden said.
The US has only four special isolation units, such as the ones used to treat three aid workers who were infected in Africa and flown back to the US for treatment, but Frieden said there was no need to move the latest patient because virtually any hospital can provide the proper care and infection control.
Blood tests by Texas health officials and the CDC separately confirmed on Tuesday that the man in Texas has Ebola.
At least 3,091 people have died from Ebola in the worst outbreak on record that has been ravaging Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea in West Africa.
Additional reporting by Reuters
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