US Ebola patient Thomas Duncan dies in hospital

 

Mr Duncan, shown here at a 2011 wedding in Ghana

The first person to be diagnosed with Ebola within the US has died. Thomas Eric Duncan, 42, who caught the virus in his native Liberia, was being treated with experimental drugs in isolation in a Dallas hospital.
"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 am," a spokesman said in a statement.
Duncan, who worked as a driver for a courier company, tested positive in Dallas, Texas, on 30 September, 10 days after arriving on a flight from Monrovia via Brussels. He become ill a few days after arriving in the US but even after going to hospital and telling medical staff he had been in Liberia he was sent home with antibiotics. ( Very poor judgement on the part of hospital staff.)

The news came shortly after US Secretary of State John Kerry urged all nations to boost their response to combat the virus.
"More countries can and must step up," he said in a joint press conference with his British counterpart Philip Hammond. "Ebola is an urgent global crisis that demands an urgent global response."
The US has pledged as many as 4,000 troops to the region, while the UK is sending 750 military personnel to Sierra Leone. Ebola has killed 3,865 people, mostly in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, in the worst Ebola outbreak yet.
Earlier the US announced new screening measures at entry points to check travellers for symptoms of the virus.


How will US airport screening work?

• JFK in New York, Newark in New Jersey, Washington Dulles, O'Hare in Chicago and Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson
• They account for 90% of international travellers to the US
• About 160 people come daily from Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea
• A handheld device will take temperatures
• Passengers will also have to fill out a questionnaire
• passengers with a fever or who answer "yes" to certain questions will be seen by a representative of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention