THE United States has diagnosed its first case of the deadly Ebola virus, a man who became infected in Liberia and travelled to Texas.

A PATIENT is reportedly in isolation and undergoing testing at a hospital in Hawaii’s tourism hub, Honolulu, with a possible case of Ebola.

Health officials have told local media Ebola is a possibility, but the patient was not yet specifically tested for the virus, the International Business Times reports.

No detail has been provided about the patient or their symptoms, but the local health department is working the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Officials would not provide any details about the patient or symptoms, but said the department is working with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Texas Ebola patient identified, race to find others

A MAN who was diagnosed with the Ebola virus in Texas came in contact with young children, and experts are monitoring them for any signs of disease.

The patient has been identified as Thomas Eric Duncan and the hospital admitted previously sending him home despite being told he was visiting the United States from Ebola-stricken Liberia.

Mr Duncan’s family are among up to 20 people being monitored after exposure to the man along with the ambulance crew who transported him to hospital, reported CNN.

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A team from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is in Dallas helping to find anyone he may have come in contact with, CDC Director Dr Thomas Frieden said.

“Once those people are identified, they will be monitored for 21 days -- taking their temperatures twice a day -- in cooperation with local and state health officials,” Dr Frieden said.

“Today we learned that some school-aged children have been identified as having had contact with the patient and are now being monitored at home for any signs of the disease,” said Texas Governor Rick Perry at a news conference.

“I know that parents are being extremely concerned about that development,” he added.

“These children have been identified and they are being monitored and the disease cannot be transmitted before having any symptoms.”

Mr Ducan travelled from Liberia to Texas to visit family, arriving in the US on September 20. He began to show symptoms on September 24, and went to hospital for the first time on Sept 26 and was sent home.

Mr Duncan’s sister Mai Wureh told AP he went to a Dallas emergency room on Friday after falling ill, but was sent home with antibiotics despite telling staff he was visiting from Liberia, an Ebola hotspot.

He returned two days later to Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital with more serious symptoms, and was admitted. He is currently isolated in hospital, where his condition has been downgraded to stable, reports WFAA.

Dr Mark Lester confirmed overnight that a nurse asked Duncan on his first visit whether he had been in an area affected by the Ebola outbreak that has killed thousands in West Africa but that the “information was not fully communicated throughout the whole team”.

The disease is not contagious until symptoms begin, and it takes close contact with bodily fluids to spread.

Mr Duncan’s case is the first diagnosis of Ebola outside West Africa in the largest outbreak of the disease in history.

The epidemic has killed more than 3000 people this year.

Cashing in on Ebola

While Mr Duncan’s n has caused shock and fear among the community others are trying to cash in on the deadly disease.

CNN reports that the soaring stock price of drug companies scrambling to come up with a cure for the disease is a clear indication.

Tekmira Pharmaceuticals (TKMR) rose over 18 per cent on Wednesday, leaving it up a massive 180 per cent since mid-July.

Investors are taking the chance that the Vancouver-based company is ahead of its competitors because last month the FDA gave it the go ahead to provide its experimental TKM-Ebola drug to test subjects with “confirmed or suspected Ebola virus infections.”

Richard Sacra, the American missionary infected with Ebola in Liberia, was given the drug last month before being released from a hospital in Nebraska.

Australia’s bid to fight Ebola

As further details of Mr Duncan’s case contine to emerge, Australia has announced it is more than doubling its contribution to combating the Ebola outbreak in West Africa.

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has announced another $10 million in aid, taking Australia’s full contribution to $18 million. The commitment follows an urgent call from the United Nations for more help.

The UN is seeking $US50 million ($A54 million) from donors to meet immediate needs over the next four weeks, including for logistics to deliver equipment, materials and supplies to Ebola response operations.

On Wednesday, global aid agency Doctors Without Borders said it had rejected $2.5 million from Australia, asking instead for a deployment of desperately-needed medical teams.

But Ms Bishop maintains Australia has limited capacity to provide consular assistance in these countries and does not have the capacity to evacuate Australians with Ebola home at this time. “The government has assessed that, at this stage, financial contributions are the best and most efficient way Australia can make a rapid contribution to the global response,” Ms Bishop said in a statement.