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1st LD Writethru: U.S. Ebola patient in "critical condition," another worker develops symptoms

Xinhua, March 17, 2015 Adjust font size:

An American healthcare worker who contracted Ebola while volunteering in Sierra Leone and came back for treatment Friday is now in critical condition, the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) said Monday.

"NIH physicians have changed the status of the patient with Ebola virus disease being treated at the NIH Clinical Center from serious to critical condition," the NIH said in a brief statement. "No additional details about the patient are being shared at this time."

The news means that the condition of the person, who was taken to the NIH Clinical Center via a private charter aircraft last Friday, has worsened.

Several Americans who had potential exposure to the patient in Sierra Leone have been transported back over the weekend to the NIH, University of Nebraska Medical Center and Emory University Hospital, which all have biocontainment facilities designated to treat Ebola.

One of the four transported to Nebraska developed symptoms Sunday evening and has been moved to the hospital's Biocontainment Unit for further monitoring, the hospital said.

"At this point, this person has not tested positive for the Ebola virus," Phil Smith, medical director of the Biocontainment Unit, said in a statement, noting that "some of the symptoms ... have resolved this morning."

The Nebraska Medical Center also said a fifth person who was a part of the initial exposure in Sierra Leone will arrive later on Monday. Endite