(Bloomberg) -- An American freelancer in Liberia working for NBC News was diagnosed withEbola and will be flown back home for treatment, the latest case of the deadly virus to be treated in the U.S.

The 33-year-old cameraman, Ashoka Mukpo, was hired Sept. 30, NBC News said on its website today.

The case comes after a traveler from Liberia was found this week to have Ebola in the U.S., making him the first patient diagnosed in the country. At least three American aid workers who contracted the disease in Africa have been evacuated to U.S. hospitals, treated and discharged.

The Ebola outbreak has been concentrated in three West African countries, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea. The outbreak there has infected more than 6,000 people and killed more than 3,000 so far, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

U.S. public health officials have been isolating and testing travelers who return from the region with symptoms of the disease. They have downplayed the chance of a major outbreak in the U.S., saying the country’s superior medical infrastructure would be able to quickly isolate the disease.

Mupko had been working in Liberia for the past three years and was diagnosed with Ebola yesterday. He was a second cameraman for Nancy Snyderman at NBC News, who has been covering the outbreak in the Liberian capital of Monrovia with three other employees.

“We are doing everything we can to get him the best care possible,” NBC News President Deborah Turness said in a note to staff that was posted on its website. “He will be flown back to the United States for treatment at a medical center that is equipped to handle Ebola patients.”

U.S. Quarantine

The rest of the crew have no symptoms or warning signs, and are being closely monitored, the media organization said.

The company will also fly them back on a private charter flight and will place them under quarantine in the U.S. for 21 days, which is at the most conservative end of medical guidance for such measures, it said.

There is no approved treatment for Ebola, though drugmakers are attempting to develop vaccines or medicines that could be used in this or a future outbreak. Current care involves isolating the patient so they can’t infect others, and providing supportive treatment such as intravenous fluids and antibiotics to fight opportunistic infections.

“The doctors are optimistic about his prognosis,” NBC News quoted Mukpo’s father, Mitchell Levy, as saying in a message to family and friends.

Special Reports /

NBC news cameraman diagnosed with Ebola, flown back to U.S. for treatment

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