Hospital says patient denied he had been exposed to anyone ill while in Ebola-ravaged Liberia

DALLAS – A Dallas hospital says a man who has Ebola initially told an emergency room nurse that he had no contact with anyone who was ill when he was in Liberia.

Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital discharged Thomas Eric Duncan after that Sept. 25 visit. He returned two days later and was diagnosed with the deadly virus.

In a statement Thursday, the hospital says Duncan admitted he’d recently arrived from West Africa but denied he had been around anyone sick. Duncan’s neighbours in the Liberian capital, Monrovia, have told The Associated Press that he helped a 19-year-old woman who has since died of Ebola.

The hospital says Duncan had a fever, headache, abdominal pain and decreased urination, but no vomiting or diarrhea. He is now isolated at the hospital in serious condition.