The Center for Disease Control and Prevention has confirmed on Tuesday that first patient diagnosed with the Ebola virus in the United States is being cared for at a Dallas, Texas hospital.
The patient, whose real identity is being withheld, is believed to have been infected with the deadly virus during a trip to Liberia.
Dr.Thomas Frieden, the CDC director, told reporters during a press conference that the patient arrived on American soil on Sept. 20, at which time he neither exhibited nor experienced any symptoms of an infection.
Reports indicate that after four to five days, the patient began to show symptoms characteristic to the deadly virus. The unidentified man has since been taken to a Dallas hospital, where he is being treated and isolated.
Officials are tight-lipped about the patient. It is unclear if he has had close contact with people in America and how many people he made contact with. Doctors have urged the press to respect the privacy of the patient.
Frieden says the CDC has reasons to believe that the patient made contact with several family members and colleagues after developing symptoms of virus.
"We are just beginning the process of investigating the contacts," he said.
"We received in our laboratory today specimens from the individual, tested them and they tested positive for Ebola," according to Frieden, who also revealed that Texas authorities have confirmed the presence of Ebola in the patient after conducting independent tests.
Frieden told a reporter that after the deadly virus, which has killed thousands of people in West Africa, has officially been confirmed in America, necessary steps needed to be taken to contain it and prevent a massive outbreak.
"First, to care for the patient, to provide the most effective care for the patient...to provide the most effective care possible, as safely as possible, to keep - to an absolute minimum - the likelihood or possibility that anyone would become infected," Frieden said adding that "the second step is to maximize the chances that the patient might recover."
