Doctor with Ebola being brought to US

A surgeon working in Sierra Leone has been diagnosed with Ebola and will be flown to Nebraska for treatment, a US government source said, according to the Guardian.

The surgeon, Dr Martin Salia, is a citizen of Sierra Leone but also a legal permanent US resident, an official with knowledge of the case told the Associated Press. The 44-year-old Salia would be treated at the Nebraska Medical Centre in Omaha, said the official.

If the case is confirmed the doctor will be the third Ebola patient at the Omaha hospital and the 10th person with Ebola to be treated in the US. The most recent, Dr Craig Spencer, was released from a New York hospital on Tuesday

In a statement on Thursday the Nebraska hospital said a patient with Ebola in Sierra Leone was being evaluated for possible transport. The patient was likely to arrive on Saturday afternoon, the statement said.

According to the federal official Salia is a general surgeon who has been working at Kissy United Methodist hospital in Freetown, Sierra Leone. He came down with symptoms of Ebola on 6 November but test results were negative for the virus. He was tested again on Monday and the results were positive. He was in a stable condition at an Ebola treatment centre in Freetown.