(RxWiki News) A surgeon infected with Ebola in West Africa is headed to the Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha for treatment.
Update (11/17/2014): Dr. Martin Salia, 44, a US resident died Nov. 17 of Ebola after checking in at the Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha Saturday. Dr. Salia checked in at the treatment center with advanced Ebola symptoms, including respiratory and kidney failure, reports ABC News.
The Associated Press (AP) reports that the surgeon, identified as Dr. Martin Salia, is a Sierra Leone citizen who lives in Maryland and is a legal permanent resident of the United States.
Dr. Salia contracted Ebola while treating patients in Sierra Leone, one of the three countries most affected by the current Ebola outbreak, along with Guinea and Liberia. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), Sierra Leone has had over 5,300 Ebola cases and more than 1,100 Ebola deaths since the outbreak began.
Nebraska Medical Center has already successfully treated two Ebola patients — Dr. Rick Sacra, who was released in September, and Ashoka Mukpo, a freelance cameraman who was released in October.
According to the AP, the medical center has not received an official confirmation that it will be treating another patient. First, an air ambulance crew has to determine whether Dr. Salia is ready for transport, reports CNN. The patient is expected to arrive Saturday.
The Ebola virus can cause Ebola virus disease. This often fatal disease can lead to symptoms like high fever, nausea, vomiting and unexplained bleeding. Ebola can spread only through direct contact with infected blood and other bodily fluids. Even then, the infected person must be showing symptoms to be contagious.
