DALLAS (WABC) --
The first Ebola patient diagnosed in the United States died in a Dallas hospital Wednesday, a little more than a week after his diagnosis exposed gaps in the nation's defenses against the disease and set off a scramble to track down anyone exposed to him.
Thomas Eric Duncan, 42, was pronounced dead at 7:51 a.m. at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas, where he was admitted Sept. 28 and had been kept in isolation, according to spokesman Wendell Watson.
"It is with profound sadness and heartfelt disappointment that we must inform you of the death of Thomas Eric Duncan this morning at 7:51 a.m.," Watson said in a statement. "Mr. Duncan succumbed to an insidious disease, Ebola. He fought courageously in this battle. 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."
Duncan's condition was changed on Saturday from serious to critical.
He carried the deadly virus with him from his home in Liberia, though he showed no signs when he left for the United States. He arrived in Dallas Sept. 20 and fell sick a few days later.
After Duncan's death, federal sources have said that travelers from West Africa will get heightened screenings for Ebola at five US airports, including John F. Kennedy International Airport and Newark Liberty International Airport. The others are in Chicago, Atlanta and Washington, D.C.
Medical officials will check passengers' temperature for fever, and they have to complete a questionnaire about their travel and who they had contact with recently.
At Bellevue Hospital, where any possible patients in our area would be taken, doctors announced how they are prepping for a suspected Ebola case. There are four isolation rooms, and doctors and nurses have been outfitted with special bio-protection suits.
Others in Dallas still are being monitored as health officials try to contain the virus that has ravaged West Africa, with more than 3,400 people reported dead. They also trying to tamp down anxiety among residents frightened of contracting Ebola, though the disease can be spread only through direct contact with the bodily fluids of an already sick person.
Health officials have identified 10 people, including seven health workers, who had direct contact with Duncan while he was contagious. Another 38 people also may have come into contact with him.
The four people living in the northeast Dallas apartment where Duncan stayed have been isolated in a private residence.
Everyone who potentially had contact with Duncan will be monitored for 21 days, the normal incubation period for the disease.
Duncan passed an airport health screening in Liberia, where doctors took his temperature and found no other signs of Ebola symptoms. But a few days after he arrived, he began to have a fever, headache and abdominal pain.
He went to the emergency room of Texas Health Presbyterian in Dallas on Sept. 24, but was sent home. By Sept. 27, his condition had worsened. An ambulance that day took him back to the hospital, where he stayed in isolation.
The hospital has changed its explanation several times about when Duncan arrived and what he said about his travel history. It has acknowledged that Duncan told them on his first visit that he came from West Africa.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
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