PROVIDENCE, R.I. � Dr. Mitchell Levy said the death Wednesday of a 42-year-old Liberian man diagnosed with Ebola �is a tragedy� for the man�s family.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. � Dr. Mitchell Levy said the death Wednesday of a 42-year-old Liberian man diagnosed with Ebola �is a tragedy� for the man�s family.

But, he added, Thomas Eric Duncan�s circumstances differ markedly from those of his 33-year-old son, battling Ebola in a special containment unit at the Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha.

Levy said his son, Ashoka Mukpo, was treated much earlier for the deadly virus.

�They are very, very different.�

Mukpo was airlifted from Liberia to the Nebraska hospital several days after he was diagnosed with Ebola. The Providence activist and journalist had been working as a freelance cameraman by NBC News.

Mukpo underwent a blood transfusion Wednesday morning. He was also given the same experimental drug used to treat Duncan.

�Basically we are using anything we can � as long as it doesn�t harm him � in the hope that anything can help,� Levy said.

Levy, who flew from Omaha to Rhode Island on Sunday, said he spoke to his son�s doctors earlier. �They all feel that he�s doing well. He is perhaps doing a little better� than yesterday, �and everyone�s encouraged.�

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