State Dept. Working to Bring Ebola-Infected Sierra Leone Doctor to U.S.

The State Department said in a statement that it’s working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to bring a Sierra Leone doctor infected with Ebola to the United States.

The surgeon will be flown to the Nebraska Medical Center for treatment, the CDC said.

The State Department said it was “in touch with the family of a U.S. legal permanent resident working in Sierra Leone who has contracted Ebola.”

“His wife, who resides in Maryland, has asked the State Department to investigate whether he is well enough to be transported back to the University of Nebraska Medical Center for treatment,” the statement continued. “We will provide further updates when available.”

The facility has treated two Americans, Dr. Rick Sacra and NBC freelance cameraman Ashoka Mukpo.

The World Health Organization reported this week that Mali has its second case of Ebola, transmitted from Guinea.

The newest statistics from the WHO report at least 14,098 cases of Ebola and 5,160 deaths.

“The case occurred in a nurse who worked at a privately-run clinic in the capital city, Bamako,” the organization said of the new Mali case.

“The nurse, who was showing Ebola-like symptoms, was isolated on the evening of 10 November following suspicions of Ebola infection in a patient from Guinea who was treated at the clinic in late October. These suspicions were raised by an alert from health authorities in Guinea. The nurse died during the night of 11 November.”

The 70-year-old man who was brought across the Mali border for treatment died of kidney failure. The nurse worked at the clinic, and a friend who visited the man at the clinic also died of a yet-to-be-determined cause.

“Because of his religious status as a Grand Imam, his body was transported to a mosque in Bamako for a ritual washing ceremony. The body was then returned to the native village of Kourémalé for formal funeral and burial ceremonies. Although these events are still under investigation, WHO staff assume that many mourners attended the ceremonies.”