The first case of the deadly Ebola virus has been diagnosed in the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Tuesday, saying that a man who flew back to the U.S. from Liberia tested positive for the disease.
The unnamed Ebola patient did not report symptoms of the virus until after entering the U.S. on Sept. 20 and did not get sick until after being in the country for four days, according to CDC Director Tom Frieden.
“I have no doubt that we will control this case of Ebola so that it does not spread,” Frieden pledged during a Tuesday evening press conference.
The CDC chief said that officials were not concerned that passengers on the plane ride from Liberia to the U.S. were at risk of contracting the virus because Ebola can’t spread until after symptoms show up.
“It is only spread by direct contact with somebody,” Frieden said. “It’s only someone who is sick with Ebola who can spread the disease.”
To date, CDC officials have been adamant that an Ebola outbreak in the U.S. is highly unlikely, even as the death toll surpasses 3,000 in West Africa. The virus can spread only through bodily fluids.
Health officials refused to release extensive details about the Ebola patient, but said that any person who came into contact with the person would be isolated and monitored. It can take up to three weeks for symptoms to show.
Frieden said that while it was “certainly possible” others could develop Ebola, those cases would also be contained.
According to the CDC chief, the Ebola patient was in the U.S. to visit family — Frieden but did not say whether he was an American citizen. The patient was admitted on Monday to an isolation unit at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas after reporting Ebola symptoms.
The Ebola outbreak has spread most widely in West Africa, where the public health infrastructure is not in place to effectively handle such a devastating disease.
However, a Department of Homeland Security inspector general recently warned that the federal government did not have all the resources needed to respond to a possible pandemic.
Multiple American workers and doctors who contracted the virus in West Africa have returned to the U.S. to be treated. But this episode marked the first time a patient has been diagnosed on U.S. soil.
This article was first posted at 5:06 p.m. and has since been updated.
