Nebraska Medicine prepares for 4th Ebola patient

Source: Nebraska Radio Network

Brent Martin

An American health care provider exposed to the Ebola virus in Sierra Leone is coming to Nebraska for observation and possible treatment.

Nebraska Medicine reports the worker has “experienced a high-risk exposure to the Ebola virus.” The patient should arrive at the Biocantainment Unit at Nebraska Medicine this afternoon aboard a private air ambulance.

“This patient has been exposed to the virus but is not ill and is not contagious,” Dr. Phil Smith, medical director of the Biocontainment Unit at Nebraska Medicine, said in a written statement released by Nebraska Medicine. “However, we will be taking all appropriate precautions. This patient will be under observation in the same room used for treatment of the first three patients and will be carefully monitored to see if Ebola disease develops.”

“This patient will be observed for development of infection during the 21-day incubation period of the disease, both by monitoring for symptoms and through blood tests,” according to Dr. Smith, also a professor of infectious diseases at the University of Nebraska Medical Center.

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Read more: http://nebraskaradionetwork.com/2015/01/04/nebraska-medicine-prepares-for-4th-ebola-patient/