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NMC monitoring health care worker exposed to Ebola in Sierra Leone

An American health care worker will spend the next three weeks in the biocontainment unit at Nebraska Medical Center after being exposed to Ebola.

The patient arrived Sunday afternoon at Nebraska Medical Center. A news release from the hospital says the patient had a “high-risk exposure” to Ebola while working in Sierra Leone. They will be quarantined in the hospital's biocontainment unit for 21 days, the incubation period of Ebola. NMC is not identifying at this time if the patient is male or female, or releasing any other details.

The patient will be observed through blood tests and monitoring of symptoms. NMC spokesman Taylor Wilson says although the patient hasn't tested positive for Ebola, the biocontainment unit staff will take the same precautions as they did when treating three Ebola patients last fall.

Massachusetts doctor Rick Sacra, NBC cameraman Ashoka Mukpo, and a Sierra Leone doctor with permanent U.S. residency, Dr. Martin Salia, were all treated in the biocontainment unit last fall. All received an experimental drug, convalescent serum, and supportive care.

Sacra and Mukpo survived. Salia died about two days after arriving in Omaha for treatment. His condition was more severe than the other patients upon arrival.

 

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