U.S. federal and Texas state health officials have quarantined four family members of a man diagnosed with Ebola, as Liberian authorities say they will prosecute him for lying on an airport travel form.
The patient, identified as Liberian national Thomas Duncan, is in serious but stable condition in isolation at a Dallas hospital.
Liberian officials say they will prosecute Duncan, who flew from Liberia and arrived in Texas on September 20, for allegedly lying on an airport travel form when he was asked if he had any contact with an Ebola victim. Duncan is reported to have answered "no," even though he helped a pregnant Ebola victim into a taxi.
Meanwhile, in Liberia, a U.S. cameraman working for NBC News has contracted Ebola. The network said it is flying the entire news crew back to the U.S., where they will be placed under a 21-day quarantine.
The World Health Organization reports that more than 3,300 people have died and over 7,000 infected with Ebola in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
The United Nations launched a mission Thursday to help prevent the spread of the disease. Anthony Banbury, head of the U.N. Mission on Ebola Emergency Response (UNMEER), began a tour of the three Ebola-stricken nations with a visit to the Liberian capital, Monrovia.
Banbury said the only way to end the crisis is to "end every last case of the virus and eliminate the risk of transmission."
The virus causes uncontrollable bleeding, vomiting and diarrhea. It is spread by direct contact with the body fluids of infected patients.
There is no specific treatment, but an American doctor diagnosed with the virus was found to be Ebola-free after taking an experimental drug in August.
