Sister: U.S. Ebola patient said he was from Liberia

DALLAS — The first Ebola patient diagnosed in the United States told relatives that he notified health care workers the first time he went to the hospital that he was visiting the U.S. from Liberia, the man's sister said Wednesday.

Mai Wureh said her brother, Thomas Eric Duncan, went to a Dallas emergency room on Friday and was sent home with antibiotics. He returned two days later after his condition worsened and was admitted to Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital.

Dr. Mark Lester confirmed Wednesday that a nurse asked Duncan on his first visit whether he had been in an area affected by the Ebola outbreak that has killed thousands in West Africa, but that "information was not fully communicated throughout the whole team."

A nine-member group of federal health officials was tracking anyone who had close contact with the man.

The team from the Centers for Disease Control was in Dallas to work with local and state health agencies to ensure that those people are watched every day for 21 days.

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