The Sierra Leone doctor infected with the Ebola virus who arrived in the United States on Saturday for treatment has died.
Nebraska hospital officials announced that Dr. Martin Salia, a surgeon who was treating Ebola patients in his home country, succumbed to the disease.
Salia, 44, is the second person to die in the U.S. of Ebola. A Liberian, Thomas Eric Duncan, died of the disease in Dallas in September.
Salia, whose wife and children live in New Carrollton, Md., arrived Saturday at Nebraska Medical Center to be treated in the hospital’s biocontainment unit.
Doctors confirmed on Monday that Salia had been in critical condition, with “advanced symptoms,” which lowers the chances for recovery.
“It is with an extremely heavy heart that we share this news,” Dr. Phil Smith, the medical director, said, in a statement. “Dr. Salia was extremely critical when he arrived here, and unfortunately, despite our best efforts, we weren’t able to save him.”
The hospital is planning a press conference later in the day. It has successfully treated two earlier patients for Ebola.
Salia’s death comes a day after federal officials announced an expansion of Ebola screening to include travelers arriving from Mali, where there are several confirmed cases of the disease.
