A surgeon who contracted the Ebola virus while working in Sierra Leone died at a Nebraska hospital where he was transported for treatment, the facility said Monday.
A statement released Monday by Nebraska Medical Center said Dr. Martin Salia has passed away as a result of the advanced symptoms of the disease.
Dr. Salia was extremely critical when he arrived here, and unfortunately, despite out best efforts, we weren’t able to save him, said Dr. Phil Smith, medical director of the biocontainment unit.
Salia, 44, was being treated in the medical center’s biocontainment unit. He arrived Saturday by plane from West Africa, and was transported by ambulance for treatment at the hospital, where two other Ebola patients have been successfully treated. Officials said Salia might be more ill than the first Ebola patients treated successfully in the United States. On Sunday officials had described his condition as an hour-by-hour situation.
Salia’s ambulance to the hospital was accompanied by a single Nebraska State Patrol cruiser and a fire department vehicle — a subdued arrival in contrast to the August delivery of Dr. Rick Sacra, whose ambulance was flanked by numerous police cars, motorcycles and fire vehicles.
Salia has been working as a general surgeon at Kissy United Methodist Hospital in the Sierra Leone capital of Freetown. It’s not clear whether he was involved in the care of Ebola patients. Kissy is not an Ebola treatment unit, but Salia worked in at least three other facilities, United Methodist News said, citing health ministry sources.
Salia, a Sierra Leone citizen who lives in Maryland, first showed Ebola symptoms on Nov. 6 but tested negative for the virus. He eventually tested positive on Monday.
The U.S. State Department said it helped facilitate the transfer of Salia; the U.S. Embassy in Freetown said he paid for the expensive evacuation. The travel costs and care of other Ebola patients flown to the U.S. have been covered by the groups they worked for in West Africa.
Salia and his wife, Isatu Salia, have two children, ages 12 and 20. Isatu said in a telephone interview that she spoke to her husband early Friday and his voice sounded weak and shaky. But he told her I love you in a steady voice, she said.
Ebola has killed more than 5,000 people in West Africa, mostly in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.