--- title: Ebola: New Patient From Sierra Leone to Receive Treatment in U.S. description: A surgeon who contracted Ebola in Sierra Leone is being flown to the United States for treatment to begin this weekend canonical: https://time.com/3584846/ebola-doctor-sierra-leone-treatment-nebraska/ author: Eliana Dockterman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-11-14T01:56:39.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T08:00:22.200Z article:section: Health og:title: New Ebola Patient From Sierra Leone to Receive Treatment in U.S. og:description: Will be cared for at Omaha's Nebraska Medical Center og:url: https://time.com/3584846/ebola-doctor-sierra-leone-treatment-nebraska/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt35421e6fb90dfe2c/698762312dce01587f9db168/456732540.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3600 og:image:height: 2025 og:image:alt: US Journalist Who Contracted Ebola In Liberia Treated At Nebraska Medical Center og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: New Ebola Patient From Sierra Leone to Receive Treatment in U.S. twitter:description: Will be cared for at Omaha's Nebraska Medical Center twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt35421e6fb90dfe2c/698762312dce01587f9db168/456732540.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Doctor Infected With Ebola in Sierra Leone to Receive Treatment in U.S. > Sponsored content. 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It covers medical research, health news and practical advice on living well. #### Where can I get reliable health news by email? Health Matters is TIME's weekday health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free weekday newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-health-2026q3/newsletters?i=c4d72b1a-d754-4a20-8644-8103570d98d3&cr=time-nl-health-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Contact Tracing: How To Trace The Spread of Ebola [Watch (HLS stream): Contact Tracing: How To Trace The Spread of Ebola](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/EJ3m56cA.m3u8) (1:49)  _Published 2014-10-02. Health officials in the US are using a method known as contact tracing, to see who is at risk from Ebola._  by [Eliana Dockterman](https://time.com/author/eliana-dockterman/)  ## Eliana Dockterman Correspondent Nov 14, 2014 1:56 AM UTC  Nebraska Medical Center on Oct. 6, 2014 in Omaha, Nebraska. Nebraska Medical Center on Oct. 6, 2014 in Omaha, Nebraska. Eric Francis—Getty Images  by [Eliana Dockterman](https://time.com/author/eliana-dockterman/)  ## Eliana Dockterman Correspondent Nov 14, 2014 1:56 AM UTC A surgeon who contracted Ebola in Sierra Leone is being flown to the United States for treatment to begin this weekend, according to a [report](http://www.cbsnews.com/news/ebola-outbreak-doctor-infected-in-sierra-leone-to-be-treated-in-omaha-nebraska/) Thursday. The unidentified doctor is originally from the West African nation but is a permanent U.S. resident, CBS News reports. The patient will be the third to be cared for at Omaha’s Nebraska Medical Center, which earlier had successfully treated American aid worker Dr. Rick Sacra and video journalist Ashoka Mukpo. News of the patient’s upcoming arrival comes two days after Ebola patient Craig Spencer was discharged from a New York City hospital and declared virus-free. Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea are at the heart of the largest Ebola outbreak in recorded history, with [more than 5,000 people](http://time.com/3582804/ebola-death-toll-surpasses-5000-worldwide/) dead so far, according to the World Health Organization. \[[_CBS News_](http://www.cbsnews.com/news/ebola-outbreak-doctor-infected-in-sierra-leone-to-be-treated-in-omaha-nebraska/)\] ## Transcript Now that the first case of Ebola has been diagnosed on American soil, what's next? How can we keep the virus from spreading? Health officials are now turning to a process known as contact tracing to figure out who else might have been exposed to the virus. The likeliest candidates are the medical technicians who treated him. That's because Ebola is spread by direct contact with bodily fluids, which health workers could have come in contact with while treating the patient. Beyond that are the patient's family members or people who have been living in close quarters with him since he developed the symptoms, including fever. Vomiting or diarrhea. These people will be monitored for 21 days, which is the incubation period of Ebola, to see if they develop similar symptoms. They won't be quarantined, but they might be asked to avoid traveling out of the country and spending time in crowded public areas. If anyone in either of these rings appears infected. Health officials will extend their monitoring to include anyone those people have been in contact with. Including their family members, school classmates, or work colleagues, until no more Ebola symptoms are discovered. Beyond that, if people in this ring appear infected, they too would be monitored for symptoms for 21 days, and the analysis would spread to their contacts. The passengers on the patient's flights from Liberia to the US aren't considered at high risk of exposure, since he was not experiencing symptoms then. Of course, all of this depends on honest and accurate information from the patient and his contacts about where they have been and with whom. Something that has been an issue in West Africa. There the stigma against Ebola has led patients to flee health volunteers who are attempting to trace contacts or fail to report people they have interacted with. 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