Doctor Working In Sierra Leone To Receive Ebola Treatment In Nebraska

An American doctor diagnosed with Ebola while working in Sierra Leone will reportedly be transported to a hospital in Omaha, Nebraska for treatment.

Dr. Marin Salia, originally from Maryland, will be flown to the Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha from Freetown, Sierra Leone this week, health officials in the West African country confirmed.

Salia had reportedly been working as a general surgeon at the Kissy United Methodist Hospital in Freetown, Sierra Leone when he tested positive for Ebola earlier this week. The hospital houses several new mothers and their newborn children after they've given birth.

The Associated Press reports that Salia is reportedly paying for his own expensive transportation from Sierra Leone to Nebraska.

Salia's wife, Isatu, has confirmed to local media outlets that her husband has tested positive for Ebola. Isatu told Voice of America that her husband's first two Ebola tests turned up negative, with the third one testing positive. She is reportedly consulting with health officials in Sierra Leone to ensure her husband is well enough to make the journey to Omaha.

"He told me when he was feeling sick, he called me and talked to me—he was not feeling well-- so the fever persist[ed] and he had to go to one of the Ebola centers. When they did the first test (test for Ebola), it was negative, so we were all happy. The fever still persist[ed] and he had to go again to see his primary care physician. So the second one came [...] it [was] negative. And the third one came positive," the doctor's wife explained.

This is the third patient to be treated at the Omaha center, which has one of the most proficient Ebola quarantine centers in the country. Of the 10 people who have been treated for Ebola in the U.S., only one patient has died, a Liberian national who was not officially treated until several days after Ebola symptoms began to show.