MOSCOW, November 17 (Sputnik) — Sierra Leone native and permanent US resident Dr. Martin Salia, who was transported to the US for treatment after contracting the Ebola virus in West Africa, has died in a hospital in Nebraska, Monday, despite blood transfusion and ZMapp therapy, according to a statment made by the Nebraska Medical Center.
"We are extremely sorry to announce that the third patient we have cared for with the Ebola virus, Dr. Martin Salia, has passed away as a result of the advanced symptoms of the disease," said the hospital in a statement, reports Al Jazeera.
Salia tested negative for the deadly Ebola virus in Sierra Leone, but a few days later tested positive. According to USA Today, spokesman for Doctors without Borders, Tim Shank, said "false negative" test results are possible in the first days of symptoms when the viral load is relatively low. He was retested on November 10th and that test was positive.
Salia was the third Ebola patient treated at the Nebraska Medical Center. His treatment included a dose of convalescent plasma and ZMapp therapy, as well as being placed on dialysis, a ventilator and multiple medications to support his organs, the hospital told Reuters.
Salia, who was 44, had worked as chief medical officer at United Methodist Kissy Hospital in Freetown, Sierra Leone, when he tested positive for Ebola last week. It was unclear how or where he contracted the virus because he worked at numerous medical facilities in addition to Kissy Hospital, reports Reuters.
According to his wife, Salia never practiced medicine in the US. He trained as a doctor in Sierra Leone's College of Medicine and Allied Sciences, his wife told Reuters.
He was evacuated at the request of his wife, an American who lives in Maryland and who has agreed to refund the US government for any expense, the State Department said.
The World Health Organization stated on Friday that 5,177 people are known to have died of Ebola across eight countries, out of a total 14,413 cases of infection emerged since December 2013, as stated by Al Jazeera.
