MOSCOW, November 16 (Sputnik) — A US surgeon undergoing Ebola treatment in Nebraska Medical Center is in a critical condition, Medical Director of the Biocontainment Unit Phil Smith said Sunday.
"This is an hour-by-hour situation," Smith said in a statement, adding that the medical team "will do everything humanly possible to help him fight this disease."
Early Sunday Nebraska Medical Center reported the patient's arrival. At the moment he is being evaluated by the staff in its Biocontainment Unit.
Surgeon Martin Salia, a permanent resident of the United States, contracted Ebola virus while working in a hospital in Freetown, Sierra Leone.
Salia showed first symptoms in early November, but tested negative. However, the second test showed positive result on Monday.
The medical evacuation of Salia to the United States was requested by the doctor's wife who has agreed to reimburse all the expenses of the US government.
According to the latest World Health Organization data, 5,177 people have died from the current Ebola outbreak, with 14,413 confirmed, probable, and suspected cases of the virus having been reported.
The current Ebola epidemic started in southern Guinea in December 2013 and soon spread to Liberia, Sierra Leone, Nigeria and Senegal. The latter two countries have recently been declared free of the virus.
Ebola is transmitted through direct contact with the bodily fluids of those infected. Although there is no officially approved medication for the virus, several countries, including Russia, are currently working on trial vaccines.
