A doctor who became infected with Ebola while working in Sierra Leone is to be flown to Nebraska for treatment, according to the Associated Press.
Dr. Martin Salia, a 44-year-old general surgeon, is expected to arrive at the Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha to receive treatment for the disease, a federal official who was not authorized to speak on situation told the AP.
If the information is true, Salia would be the third doctor to be treated at the Omaha hospital and the 10th Ebola patient to be treated in the U.S.
Salia is a legal permanent U.S. resident and a native of Sierra Leone, which along with Guinea and Liberia make up the center of the Ebola epidemic in West Africa. More than 5,000 have died from the hemorrhagic fever and thousands more have been infected, according to World Health Organization figures released Nov. 9.
The government official said Salia, who works at Kissy United Methodist Hospital in Freetown, began showing symptoms on Nov. 6. He was tested for the virus but the results were negative.
Salia was tested again on Monday and results came back positive for Ebola, the symptoms of which can occur anytime between two and 21 days, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
As of Friday the doctor is listed in stable condition in Freetown, the AP reported.
A representative from Nebraska Medical Center, one of four U.S. hospitals with biocontainment units for handling highly infectious diseases, said he cannot yet confirm if they are receiving another Ebola patient, CNN reported. Air ambulance staff is to fly to Sierra Leone and evaluate the patient before a decision is made.
"The members of the crew will determine whether the patient is stable enough for transport - if he is, he would arrive in Omaha sometime Saturday afternoon," hospital spokesman Taylor Wilson told CNN in a statement. "We will update you on the status of this patient as more information becomes available."
