An American doctor exposed to Ebola while working in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) was placed into quarantine in as secure area at the University of Nebraska, officials said.

The physician, who is not exhibiting symptoms of Ebola, was transported by private plane and a car, and will remain under observation for up to two weeks at the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) in Omaha, according to a statement by the hospital. If symptoms appear, the doctor whose name is currently being withheld, will be transported to a specialized bio-containment unit.

"This person may have been exposed to the virus but is not ill and is not contagious," said UNMC infectious diseases specialist Ted Cieslak. "Should any symptoms develop, the Nebraska Medicine/UNMC team is among the most qualified in the world to deal with them."

Nebraska Medicine, a network of hospitals, clinics and healthcare colleges, together with academic partner UNMC, are among world leaders in the treatment of Ebola, which spreads through contact with bodily fluids and causes hemorrhagic fever with severe vomiting, diarrhea and bleeding. -CNBC

The current Ebola outbreak in the DRC is the second worst in recorded history, killing 356 of 585 people who have contracted it since it began to spread six months ago, according to the World Health Organization.

Nebraska Medicine handled three patients with Ebola in 2014 and monitored several more for exposure during a 2013 - 2016 West African outbreak that was the worst on record, which tallied over 28,000 confirmed cases - killing more than 11,000.

In 2014 a Harlem doctor set off a panic in New York City when he returned from Guinea infected with the virus and then rode the subway before going bowling in Williamsburg. He was hospitalized and released several weeks later with a clean bill of health.

Ebola has an incubation period of up to three weeks before symptoms emerge.