A Liberian man who was the first person diagnosed with Ebola in the United States died in a hospital isolation ward on Wednesday and the government ordered extra screenings at five major airports as part of efforts to stop the virus spreading outside of West Africa.
Thomas Eric Duncan, who arrived in the United States in late September from Liberia, had been in critical condition and on a ventilator, the Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas giving him an experimental medication to try to keep him alive.
"It is with profound sadness and heartfelt disappointment that we must inform you of the death of Thomas Eric Duncan this morning at 7:51 a.m.," hospital spokesman Wendell Watson said in an emailed statement.