Nebraska Hospital: Surgeon with Ebola Has Died

A second person has died of the Ebola virus in the United States. Forty-four-year-old Dr. Martin Salia died early Monday morning at the Nebraska Medical Center.

Salia, a surgeon, contracted the virus in his native Sierra Leone, one of the three West African nations hardest hit by the Ebola epidemic. So far 5,000 people have died of Ebola.

Salia was working at the Kissy United Methodist Hospital in the capital of Freetown, which is not an Ebola treatment center. But Salia was known to work at three other medical centers in the area.

The doctor began experiencing Ebola symptoms November 6, but tested negative for the virus at the time. Then, four days later, he tested positive. Five other doctors with whom Salia worked contracted the virus, all have died.

By the time Dr. Salia arrived in the United States Saturday, Nov. 15, the virus was extemely advanced in his system. He was experiencing kidney and respiratory failure.

Salia's wife said the last thing she did with her husband was pray with him. She spoke to him by telephone, recalling his voice sounded weak.

His treatment included dialysis, a ventilator, and several medications, including the experimental drug ZMapp, which was given to Ebola survivors Dr. Kent Brantley and Nancy Writebol. The makers of ZMapp said after those treatments they ran-out of the drug, but have since made more.

Salia also reportedly recieved a blood transfusion from an Ebola survivor, which is a treatment that has been successful in a number of cases. The theory is that the blood from an Ebola survivor contains antibodies to fight the virus.

Treating patients soon after being diagnose is the best chance for their survival. The Nebraska center has successfully treated two other Ebola patients.

It's likely Salia died from Ebola primarily because he was already critically ill when he was admitted to the hospital.

Dr. Phil Smith, medical director of the biocontainment unit, said when a patient comes to them in the late stages of the progression of the virus, there's little that can be done for them.

"As we have learned, early treatment with these patients is essential," he explained. "In Dr. Salia's case, his disease was already extremely advanced by the time he came here for treatment."

The only other person to die from Ebola in the United States was also admitted when he was critically ill. Thomas Eric Duncan went to a Dallas hospital when he first began exhibiting symptoms.

The eight patients who were treated successfully in the United States all began their treatment as soon as they began exhibiting symptoms.

That was not the case with Duncan. The hospital did not recognize he had Ebola and sent him home, where Duncan got much sicker.

Days later Duncan's family called for an ambulance and he was finally admitted to the hospital at that time, but by then Ebola virus was quite advanced in his system.