TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The United States (US) has reported its first confirmed case of Ebola, when a patient in Dallas, Texas tested positive for the deadly virus after returning from Liberia two weeks ago.
"A patient who had returned from a trip to Liberia was diagnosed after re-entering the US," said the director of the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Thomas Frieden, as quoted by the BBC on Wednesday, October 1, 2014.
Frieden said that the patient—who is currently under isolation at the Texas Presbyterian Hospital—left Liberia on September 19 and arrived in the US a day later and visited a relative, before showing symptoms on September 24. Four days later, the patient was admitted to the isolation chamber for further treatment.
The Dallas case is the first confirmed case of Ebola in the US. Previously, three American volunteers became infected on duty in West Africa. They were evacuated to the US to undergo further treatments.
CDC has imposed a strict 21 day quarantine on all individuals who have been in direct contact with the infected patient. According to Frieden, those who have had direct contact with the patient have a higher chance of testing for Ebola in the next few weeks.
ANINGTIAS JATMIKA | BBC