The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has confirmed the first case of Ebola virus diagnosed in United States. The patient, still not identified, had recently flown here from Liberia to visit family, officials said. He was admitted on Monday to an isolation unit at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas to betested for Ebola after he began exhibiting symptoms.
"This is the first case of Ebola diagnosed in the U.S., and the first case of this strain of Ebola diagnosed outside Africa," Dr. Tom Frieden, director of the CDC, said at a news conference Tuesday evening.
Frieden sought to reassure the public, stating "I have no doubt that we will control this importation, this case of Ebola, so it will not spread widely in this country." He acknowledged it was possible that "a handful" of others in close contact with the patient may have been exposed. He said those people would be tracked down, and he expressed confidence the disease would be contained. "I have no doubt we will stop it here," he said.