© Reuters / Brian C. FrankDr. Martin Salia is placed on a stretcher upon his arrival at the Nebraska Medical Center Biocontainment Unit in Omaha, Nebraska, November 15, 2014.
The 44 year-old was taken to hospital in Omaha on Saturday, but passed away on Monday according to hospital officials.
"We are extremely sorry to announce that the third patient we've cared for with the Ebola virus, Dr. Martin Salia, has passed away as a result of the advanced symptoms of the disease," the hospital said in a statement, which was reported by AFP. The other two patients who were treated at the facility were given clean bills of health.
The 44 year-old, who was a permanent US resident, contracted the virus while working at a hospital in Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone, according to his relatives. He was already suffering from advanced symptoms, including kidney and respiratory failure when he arrived at the Nebraska Medical Center, which is one of four US hospitals equipped to handle treatment of the disease and has the largest bio-containment unit in the country.
Salia, who was based in the state of Maryland, but spent a significant amount of time in Freetown, had originally been tested for the disease in early November. His test came back negative leading to jubilant celebrations and embraces from worried colleagues, the Washington Post reported. However, his symptoms did not go away and he took another test on November 10, which was positive forcing everyone who had been in physical contact with the 44 year-old into quarantine
"We were celebrating. If the test says you are Ebola-free, we assume you are Ebola-free," said Komba Songu M'Briwa, who cared for Salia at the Hastings Ebola Treatment Center in Freetown, the Washington Post added. "Then everything fell apart."
Salia, who was originally from Sierra Leone, was the tenth patient to be treated on US soil for the virus. He is the second person to have died in the United States from Ebola. In October, a Liberian man, Thomas Eric Duncan, died at a Texas hospital from
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"He was already suffering from advanced symptoms, including kidney and respiratory failure when he arrived at the Nebraska Medical Center"
"The doctor ...had been flown from Freetown in a specially equipped air ambulance for treatment at the Nebraska Medical Center"
"Isatu Salia paid for the $200,000 ticket to fly her husband from Sierra Leone to the United States for treatment"
"Although he was deemed well enough to travel to the U.S. to seek treatment for Ebola, his condition is critical by all accounts"
...
Wow, he was deemed well enough to travel to the US, even though it required a $200,000 ticket, paid for privately and he had tested positive for Ebola and his condition was critical