A patient being treated at a Dallas hospital is the first person diagnosed with Ebola in the United States , health officials announced Tuesday . The unidentified man left Liberia on September 19 and arrived in the United States on September 20 , said Dr. Thomas Frieden , director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention . At that time , the individual did not have symptoms . `` But four or five days later , '' he began to exhibit them , Frieden said . The individual was hospitalized and isolated Sunday at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital . Citing privacy concerns , health officials declined to release any details about how the patient contracted the virus or how he was being treated . `` I can say he is ill . He is under intensive care , '' Dr. Edward Goodman of the hospital told reporters . Frieden declined to answer whether the patient is a U.S. citizen . He also declined to say , clearly , whether the patient is a man , although he referred to the person as `` he '' on multiple occasions . `` The patient was visiting family members and staying with family members who live in this country , '' he said at a news conference . However , the city of Dallas in a news release said the patient `` moved to Dallas from Liberia a week ago . '' The patient is believed to have had a handful of contacts with people after showing symptoms of the virus , and before being isolated , Frieden said . A CDC team was en route to Texas to help investigate those contacts , and Texas Gov . Rick Perry will be in Dallas on Wednesday to hold a news conference . Crew members who transported the patient to the hospital have been isolated , the chief of staff for Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings told CNN . None have shown symptoms of the disease so far . The ambulance that carried the patient - ambulance # 37 -- - was in use for two days after the transport but was adequately decontaminated , said Dallas city spokeswoman Sana Syed . `` I do want to stress that the paramedics followed national standards , as they do after each transport , in decontaminating the ambulance , '' she said . `` The Dallas County health department has confirmed that paramedics did follow proper guidelines to avoid contaminating additional patients . '' Frieden , too , sought to play down the risk to public health . There are currently no other suspected cases of Ebola in Texas . `` It 's a severe disease , which has a high-case fatality rate , even with the best of care , but there are core , tried and true public health interventions that stop it , '' Frieden said . `` The bottom line here is that I have no doubt that we will control this importation or this case of Ebola so that it does not spread widely in this country , '' he said . According to the CDC , Ebola causes viral hemorrhagic fever , which can affect multiple organ systems in the body and is often accompanied by bleeding . Early symptoms include sudden onset of fever , weakness , muscle pain , headaches and a sore throat , each of which can be easily mistaken early on for other ailments like malaria , typhoid fever and meningitis . Ebola is spread by direct contact with someone sick with the virus . That means people on the patient 's flight are not thought to be at risk , as he did not begin to show symptoms until several days after arriving in the United States , Frieden said . He spoke about what 's being done at airports to help stop the spread of the disease . `` One of the things that CDC has done in Liberia , Sierra Leone , Guinea and Lagos , is to work with the airports ' authority so 100 % of the individuals getting on planes are screened for fever , '' the director said . `` And if they have a fever , they are pulled out of the line , assessed for Ebola and do n't fly unless Ebola is ruled out . '' He added , however : `` As long as there continue to be cases in West Africa , the reality is that patients travel , individuals travel , and , as appears to have happened in this case , individuals may travel before they have any symptoms . '' How the virus spreads . Ebola virus : 9 things to know about the killer disease . A number of other Americans have been diagnosed with the disease in West Africa and then brought to the United States for treatment . The Ebola outbreak has been centered in the West African countries of Guinea , Sierra Leone and Liberia , though there have been concerns about international air travel and other factors -- including the fact the symptoms might not appear until two to 21 days after one is infected -- may contribute to its spread . More than 3,000 people in West Africa have died after being infected with Ebola , according to a World Health Organization report from last week . The same report stated that there had been 6,553 cases of the virus overall , though the number is suspected to be much higher , given difficulties in tracking and reporting the disease . The reason Ebola is n't being stopped . `` I have no doubt that we 'll stop this in its tracks in the U.S . But I also have no doubt that as long as the outbreak continues in Africa , we need to be on our guard , '' said Frieden .
Ambulance that transported patient was in service for Tuesday . Crew that transported the patient to the hospital has been isolated . `` I have no doubt that we 'll stop this in its tracks in the the United States , '' World Health Organization director says . The patient recently arrived in U.S from the United States .