US Ebola patient dies in hospital

The first person to be diagnosed with Ebola within the US has died, Texas hospital officials announced today.

"It is with profound sadness and heartfelt disappointment that we must inform you of the death of Thomas Eric Duncan this morning at 7:51 am," a spokesman said in a statement.

Thomas Eric Duncan, 42, who caught the virus in his native Liberia, was being treated with experimental drugs in isolation in a Dallas hospital.

Duncan, who worked as a driver for a courier company, tested positive in Dallas, Texas, on 30 September, 10 days after arriving on a flight from Monrovia via Brussels.

He become ill a few days after arriving in the US but even after going to hospital and telling medical staff he had been in Liberia he was sent home with antibiotics.