confirmed in Dallas, Texas.Officials at Texas Health Presbyterian
Hospital say the unidentified patient is being kept in isolation.
The man is thought to have contracted the virus in Liberia before
travelling to the US nearly two weeks ago.
More than 3,000 people have already died of Ebola in West Africa and a
small number of US aid workers have recovered after being flown to the
US.
"An individual travelling from Liberia has been diagnosed with Ebola
in the United States," Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Director
Thomas Frieden told reporters on Tuesday.
According to Frieden, the unnamed patient left Liberia on September 19
and arrived in the US the next day to visit relatives, without
displaying any symptoms of the virus.
Symptoms of the virus became apparent on September 24, and on
September 28 he was admitted to a Texas hospital and put in isolation.
A hospital official told reporters on Tuesday the facility already had
procedures in place to deal with any such potential cases.
Preliminary information indicates the unnamed patient was not involved
in treating Ebola-infected patients while in Liberia.
Health officials are working to identify all people who came into
contact with the unnamed patient while he was infectious.
Those people will then be monitored for 21 days to see if an
Ebola-related fever develops.
According to Frieden, it is possible a family member who came in
direct contact with the patient may develop Ebola in the coming weeks.
But "the bottom line here is I have no doubt that we will control this
importation, this case of Ebola, so it does not spread widely in this
country," he added. "We will stop it here."
The World Health Organisation says more than 3,000 people have died of
the virus so far, mostly in Liberia.
Earlier on Tuesday, the CDC said the Ebola virus seemed to be
contained in Nigeria and Senegal, with no new cases reported there for
almost a month.
It is the world's most deadly outbreak of the virus.
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