Thomas Eric Duncan has been identified as the first patient with the Ebola virus in the United States.
He was visiting family in Dallas, Texas after contracting the disease while in Liberia just days ago.
Duncan has been in isolation at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital since Sunday. He was listed in serious but stable condition Wednesday, reported the Associated Press.
Duncan is originally from Monrovia, Liberia, according to his Facebook profile. He currently lives in Accra, Ghana.
Duncan appears to have a son, Eric Duncan, who lives in Dallas, Texas. Duncan’s sister lives in Charlotte, North Carolina.
The New York Times says that Duncan is in his mid-40s. While he lists Accra as his residence, it says he still lives in Monrovia.
Parents of a woman who has Ebola say that he had direct contact with her on September 15, just four days before he left Liberia for the United States. Duncan rode in a taxi to a hospital to help the woman, Marthalene Williams, 19, when she began showing symptoms of the disease. Duncan is described as a family friend. He then helped carry Williams back to the family home that evening.
“He was holding her by the legs, the pa was holding her arms and Sonny Boy was holding her back,” said Arren Seyou, 31, who witnessed what happens and lives next to Duncan. Sonny Boy, 21, started getting sick about a week ago, around the same time that Duncan started showing victims. Sonny Boy later died.
Duncan often told neighbors that his son lived in the U.S. and was trying to get him to America. Duncan worked as a driver at Safeway Cargo for the past year before quitting recently.
After arriving in the U.S., Duncan may have come into contact with five children from four different schools, according to the Dallas Independent School District.
