MOSCOW, November 15 (Sputnik) — Dr. Martin Salia, a Sierra Leone doctor, infected with the deadly Ebola virus, has left West Africa for Nebraska on November 15 in order to get special treatment; Mr. Salia is expected to arrive in Omaha on Saturday afternoon.
"Dr. Martin Salia, who is a legal permanent resident of the United States, is married to a US citizen. He splits his time between New Carrollton, Maryland, and his native Sierra Leone, where he works at a Methodist hospital," CNN reported, citing its affiliate, WJZ.
The doctor was diagnosed with Ebola last Monday, however, the health care workers transferring Dr. Salia from Sierra Leone to the US have confirmed that "his condition was stable enough for him to make the flight," WOWT NBC Omaha notes.
Nebraska Medicine, the innovative medical center located in Omaha, has once again activated its 10-bed Biocontainment Unit, the media outlet reports. It should be noted that Nebraska Medicine is one of the four medical centers equipped with special biocontainment units and staffed by experienced professionals able to cope with highly contagious diseases. The medical center has already treated two American patients infected with the deadly virus, particularly, Dr. Rick Sacra and Ashoka Mukpo, an NBC's cameraman. Both overcame the disease and were released in September and October, respectively. All Ebola patients except Liberian Thomas Eric Duncan, who died in Dallas last month, have been successfully treated in the United States, CNN stresses.
It still remains unclear whether Dr. Salia contracted the disease while taking care of Ebola patients at Sierra Leone's Methodist hospital. Earlier this year in an interview with United Methodist Communications, Dr. Salia underscored that he considered his work in Sierra Leone's treatment center an important mission.
"I took this job not because I want to, but I firmly believe that it was a calling and that God wanted me to," he said as cited by WOWT NBC Omaha media source.
"He doesn't think of himself as someone important. He puts himself down and helps those who really need help," his son Maada Salia told WJZ, a CNN affiliate. Maada Salia stressed that he considered his father a true hero.
According to Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN chief medical correspondent, doctors have not yet thoroughly examined Martin Salia's condition and numerous factors may complicate patient's treatment.
"We don't know how sick he is. We don't know what stage of the disease he is (in)," Dr. Sanjay Gupta noted.
