A patient at a Texas hospital tested positive for the Ebola virus, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed Tuesday.
The unnamed patient was placed under isolation at Dallas-based Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital after showing symptoms of the virus that has killed thousands across West Africa. A statement from the hospital said the patient's recent travel history roused suspicion that Ebola was the case, however officials have not released where the person has been, The Washington Post reported.
The confirmation makes the first U.S. case of Ebola in the worst outbreak of the virus in history. Over 3,000 people have died in Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia where the virus is centered. The World Health Organization estimates there are at least 6,500 confirmed cases of Ebola, according to CNBC.
There is no known cure for the virus and health officials worry over a million people could be infected by January.
American doctors and aid workers who have been infected overseas have been flown back to the U.S. for treatment, but as of Tuesday there was never a confirmed case of infection in the U.S.
More details are expected to be released at a CDC press conference Tuesday evening.
