TheCable

The United States (US) has recorded its second death to Ebola virus disease, as another health worker died of the deadly disease on Monday.

On Tuesday, Martin Salia, a surgeon who contracted the virus while working in Sierra Leone, died at a hospital in Nebraska, United States.

The US recorded its first Ebola death on October 8 when Thomas Eric Duncan, the first person to be diagnosed with the disease on US soil, died after days of treatment at a Texas hospital.

Salia, who worked as a general surgeon at Kissy United Methodist Hospital in Sierra Leone, is a Sierra Leonean who is also a permanent resident of Maryland, United States.

The 44-year-old was reported to have spoken to his wife, Isatu Salia, via phone on Friday with a weak and shaky voice.

Reassuring his wife of over 20 years that he would survive the virus, he said in a steady voice: “I love you”.

The announcement was made by officials at the hospital, where Salia was the third patient to be treated for the viral disease, with the other two given a clean bill of health.

The Sierra Leonean was the 10th patient to be treated on US soil for the virus, and the second to die.