US health officials are confirming the first case of the potentially deadly Ebola virus to be diagnosed on American soil.  I say, “potentially,” because the patient is in isolation in hospital in Dallas, Texas, and will receive state-of-the-art treatment – unlike the more than 3,000 people who died in make-shift hospital tents and on the streets of West Africa.

Dr. Thomas Frieden of the Centers for Disease Control didn’t reveal too much information about the patient, other than referring to him as a male, and that he had arrived from Liberia without showing Symptoms on 20 September.  By 28 September, he was admitted to Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas.   Frieden says officials are now identifying anyone who may have had contact with the infected person since his symptoms first appeared.  People are not contagious after exposure unless they develop symptoms, and the virus is spread via the bodily fluids of symptomatic patients.

Early symptoms of Ebola include fever, sore throat and muscle aches.  As the disease progresses, those symptoms include diarrhea and nausea, leading to hemorrhagic fever, which can cause bleeding, organ failure, and death.

Ebola has killed nearly 3,100 people and infected more than 6,500 in West Africa. Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone are the most affected countries.

Prior to the Dallas case, four American aid workers were airlifted to the US for treatment after contracting Ebola.  Two survived after being given an experimental drug.  One was released from hospital after receiving standard treatment.  The fourth is being cared for at the National Institutes of Health near the Capital.