A general surgeon who recently arrived in Nebraska to be treated for Ebola died from the disease on Monday, the New York Daily News reported.
Dr. Martin Salia arrived at Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha on Saturday after he contracted the virus while working in Freetown, Sierra Leone.
"It is with an extremely heavy heart that we share this news," Dr. Phil Smith, medical director of the hospital's Biocontainment Unit, said according to the newspaper. "Dr. Salia was extremely critical when he arrived here, and unfortunately, despite our best efforts, we weren't able to save him."
Salia, 44, was experiencing problems with respiratory and kidney symptoms upon arrival. Hospital staff placed him on a ventilator and dialysis and he was given an experimental Ebola treatment called ZMapp, the newspaper reported.
But the disease, which has already claimed the lives of thousands in West Africa, still has no known cure.
Officials from the Omaha hospital, one of four U.S. hospitals with biocontainment units, are expected to release more details later Monday.
Salia's death marks the second time a patient has died from Ebola in the U.S. The first was 42-year-old Thomas Eric Duncan, a Liberian man who was diagnosed with the virus in the U.S. and died Oct. 8 at a Texas hospital. Others who have been treated for Ebola in the U.S., including two nurses who treated Duncan, later recovered from the disease.
Salia was a native of Sierra Leone and a legal permanent U.S. resident. He was initially tested for Ebola when he began showing symptoms on Nov. 6 but the results came back negative. He tested positive for the virus on Nov. 10, the Daily News reported.
"We're very grateful for the efforts of the team led by Dr. Smith," said Isatu Salia, the doctor's wife, according to the newspaper. "In the very short time we spent here, it was apparent how caring and compassionate everyone was.
"We are so appreciative of the opportunity for my husband to be treated here and believe he was in the best place possible."
