The National Institutes of Health admitted a patient with exposure to the Ebola virus to the NIH Clinical Center in Bethesda , Maryland Thursday afternoon `` out of an abundance of caution , '' the NIH said . The patient -- an American nurse who volunteered at an Ebola treatment unit in the West African nation of Sierra Leone -- `` has been admitted to the NIH Clinical Center 's special clinical studies unit that is specifically designed to provide high-level isolation capabilities and is staffed by infectious diseases and critical care specialists , '' the federal medical research agency said in a statement . `` NIH is taking every precaution to ensure the safety of our patients , NIH staff , and the public . This situation presents minimal risk to any of them . '' The NIH hospital outside Washington is one of a handful in the United States specially equipped to treat patients with highly infectious diseases like Ebola . NIH said that it would n't be divulging any additional details about the patient at this time . U.N. 'concentrating ' on Sierra Leone . The vast majority of the more than 18,000 confirmed and suspected cases , and the more than 6,500 deaths , in the latest Ebola outbreak have been in West Africa , according to the World Health Organization . And at more than 8,000 cases , Sierra Leone has had the most cases of any country . The United Nations ' point man on Ebola briefed reporters Thursday on his recent trip to the stricken region . `` In Sierra Leone , in the east of the country , transmission has reduced , '' said Dr. David Nabarro . `` ( But in ) the west of the country , there is intense transmission and we 're concentrating on that area . '' Overall , however , Nabarro was encouraged by the improvements he saw since his visit in September . `` ( I 'm ) confident that we 're going in the right direction . '' Several people who have been treated at American hospitals were first diagnosed with the virus in the region . There have been some exceptions , like Liberian national Thomas Eric Duncan , who was diagnosed at a Dallas hospital , where he died . One of the nurses who treated Duncan , Nina Pham , caught Ebola and underwent treatment at the National Institutes of Health facility in Maryland . The NIH declared her Ebola-free in late October . Nabarro said he was `` delighted '' by Time Magazine naming Ebola fighters as the publication 's 'Person of the Year . ' `` People working on this response -- thousands of people , from the region and outside -- really are amazing , '' he said . `` Putting their lives on the line , continuing the effort , sometimes they just want to stay because they feel they ca n't stop until the job is done . ''
The NIH admits patient who was exposed to Ebola . NIH : `` situation presents minimal risk '' no one has died from the virus, and it is not spread through air travel or by touching surfaces of infected people. " UN says its concentrating on western Sierra Leone .