Word has just come over the wire from Reuters that Texas Ebola patient Thomas Eric Duncan succumbed to the deadly virus this morning. The report was confirmed moments ago by a spokesman at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas.
Duncan had been receiving doses of the experimental drug brincidofovir but had not been responding over the weekend, the source said.
With his death, Duncan, 42, becomes the first known casualty of the dreaded virus in the United States. The highly contagious virus has killed more than 3,400 people in West Africa s0 far this year, according to World Health Organization estimates.
Five Americans who were diagnosed with Ebola in Africa have returned to the U.S. for treatment since late July. All have recovered with the exception of Duncan.
This report will be updated as new information becomes available.
