From The Daily Beast

A patient flying from Liberia to the United States was hospitalized this week in Dallas with Ebola, marking America’s first diagnosis. CDC Director Tom Frieden says the patient is ‘critically ill’ but is confident the disease will not spread.

In a press conference Tuesday evening, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Thomas Frieden provided more information about a patient confirmed to be carrying Ebola—the first to be diagnosed in the United States.

The patient, who has been identified as a male, left Liberia on September 19and arrived in the United States on September 20. Four days later, the man began showing symptoms. On September 26, he reportedly “sought care,” which Frieden declined to elaborate on. On the evening of September 28, the patient was placed in isolation. By 1:22 p.m. Tuesday, experts in Dallas had confirmed that the patient had Ebola. Frieden said the patient is now “critically ill” and that the CDC is exploring “experimental Ebola treatments.”

Since the patient did not show symptoms of the infection until four days after arriving in the United States, he was not contagious on the plane or in the airport. “At this point, there is zero risk of transmission on the flight. The illness would not have gone on 10 days before diagnosis. He was checked with fever before the flight,” said Frieden. “Ebola is a scary disease because of the severity of the illness it causes. At the same time, we’re stopping it in its tracks in this country. We can do that because of two things: strong health care…and strong public health that can track contacts and isolate them. We’re stopping this in its tracks.”

Read more at The Daily Beast