The first person to be diagnosed with Ebola in the United States died
early Wednesday, officials with Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital
announced.
Thomas Eric Duncan, 42, died at 7:51 a.m., the hospital said.
"This hurts deeply," Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings said during a city
council meeting. "We were hoping this was not going to happen."

Duncan, a Liberian citizen who recently traveled from West Africa to
Dallas, had been in isolation at Texas Health Presbyterian for 10
days.
He had come to Texas to reunite with a long-lost son and the teen's
mother, Louise Troh, a former sweetheart from when she lived in
Liberia. Troh is being kept in quarantine because she had contact with
Duncan, but released a statement following his death.
"His suffering is over," Troh said. "My family is in deep sadness and
grief, but we leave him in the hands of God. Our deepest sympathies go
out to his father and family in Liberia and here in America. Eric was
a wonderful man who showed compassion toward all."
The state health department said they will follow recently issued CDC
guidelines for handling Duncan's body, which could remain contagious
for several days. The health department said Duncan's family agreed
with their request to cremate him.
"The cremation process will kill any virus in the body so the remains
can be returned to the family," said Dr. David Lakey, commissioner of
the Texas Department of State Health Services. "No protective gear is
needed to handle the remains after cremation."
Duncan's death comes four days after his condition was downgraded from
serious to critical. Over the weekend, he had begun receiving
brincidofovir, an experimental antiviral drug that recently gained
emergency approval from the Food and Drug Administration.
"He fought courageously in this battle," the hospital said in a
statement. "Our professionals, the doctors and nurses in the unit, as
well as the entire Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas
community, are also grieving his passing. We have offered the family
our support and condolences at this difficult time."
(yahoo news)
