Ashoka Mukpo is the fourth American to have contracted Ebola in Liberia.
The video journalist, 33, reported symptoms on Wednesday and was running a slight fever. On Thursday he was tested for the virus at a treatment center, with the result coming back positive, NBC News said in a story posted on its website.
He is being treated in the Liberian capital of Monrovia and will be flown back this weekend to the United States for treatment, said his mother, Diane Mukpo, on Friday’s Today show.
The freelancer had been hired Tuesday as a second cameraman for NBC’s medical correspondent, Nancy Snyderman, who is in Liberia reporting on the Ebola epidemic with three other NBC News employees.
In an interview on Today, Snyderman said Mukpo had joined her 72 hours prior to realizing he felt ill.
“We shared a work space. We shared vehicles. We shared equipment,” she said. “But everyone here is hyper-alert. We have not been in close proximity. No one shakes hands. There’s no hugging.
“We are doing everything we can to get him the best care possible,” NBC News President Deborah Turness said in a note to staff. “He will be flown back to the United States for treatment at a medical center that is equipped to handle Ebola patients.”
Turness said Snyderman and others in her crew will be flown back to the United States on a private charter flight and will be quarantined in the United States for 21 days “in an abundance of caution.”
Source: USAToday
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