Ebola infection rocks North Texas Liberians

Rick Jervis, USA TODAY9:22 p.m. EDT October 1, 2014

EULESS, Texas — For months, Liberians in this suburb between Dallas and Fort Worth have faced devastating news from their home country of relatives dying from the Ebola virus. People have lost brothers, sisters, nephews, moms, sometimes six or seven at a time.

That nightmare took an even more frightful turn Tuesday when health officials revealed the first U.S. case of an Ebola infection was that of a Liberian man in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

"We are under high emotional breakdown," said Bishop Nathan Kortu of the New Life Fellowship Church, whose congregation is predominantly Liberian. "That fear we've been going through is now in our own backyard."

The Ebola patient remained in intensive care Wednesday at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas. He arrived in the USA from Liberia on Sept. 20 without symptoms and sought care six days later. He was sent home, only to return to the hospital two days later and be admitted. The Associated Press identified the patient as Thomas Eric Duncan, noting that he was identified by his sister, Mai Wureh.

USA TODAY