The day included a series of mixed messages, however, about U.S. preparedness, response and confinement of the disease.

At the same time, in Dallas, where Liberian Thomas Eric Duncan died from Ebola on Wednesday, all 48 individuals identified as having come in direct contact with Duncan, remained symptomless.

The number of deaths from the Ebola virus soared to 4,033 as of Thursday, according to the latest report released Friday by the World Health Organization WHO). The number of "confirmed, probable, and suspected cases of Ebola virus disease" in seven affected countries, including the United States and Spain, rose to 8,399.

The Associated Press reported that when Duncan first appeared in the Emergency Room of Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas late Thursday night, Sept. 25, his fever spiked at 103 degrees. According to medical records provided to the AP by his family, he also complained to the hospital staff of abdominal pain so severe he ranked it 8 on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the worst. Dizziness, headache and decreased urination were also noted in his chart. When a CT scan ruled out appendicitis and stroke, Duncan was prescribed antibiotics and Tylenol and released.

In a note in Duncan's chart dated the next day, a doctor wrote that the patient was "negative for fever and chills," despite an earlier note that highlighted Duncan's fever of 103 degrees with an exclamation point. "The condition of the patient at this time is stable," the doctor added.

There was no immediate response to the story from either the hospital or the physician who treated Duncan.

On the other side of the city, at the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, a special Homeland Security committee held a field meeting Friday in which Rep. Mike McCaul, R-Texas, chair of the committee, tried to reassure the public.