Rick Jervis

USA TODAY

EULESS, Texas — For months, Liberians in this suburb between Dallas and Fort Worth have faced devastating news from their home country of relatives dying from the Ebola virus. People have lost brothers, sisters, nephews, moms, sometimes six or seven at a time.

That nightmare took an even more frightful turn Tuesday when health officials revealed the first U.S. case of an Ebola infection was that of a Liberian man in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

"We are under high emotional breakdown," said Bishop Nathan Kortu of the New Life Fellowship Church, whose congregation is predominantly Liberian. "That fear we've been going through is now in our own backyard."

The Ebola patient remained in intensive care Wednesday at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas. He arrived in the USA from Liberia on Sept. 20 without symptoms and sought care six days later. He was sent home, only to return to the hospital two days later and be admitted. The Associated Press identified the patient as Thomas Eric Duncan, noting that he was identified by his sister, Mai Wureh.

U.S. health officials and experts have said the USA is not at risk for a large Ebola epidemic like the one ravaging West Africa, partly because of strict quarantine measures practiced here. Ebola has infected 7,178 people and killed 3,338 in Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Senegal and Nigeria, the World Health Organization says.

News of the Dallas-area infection rocked the Liberian community of 5,000 to 10,000 people. Community leaders called an impromptu meeting Tuesday night to agree on preventive measures for recently arrived Liberians and disseminate information.

"They're nervous. I'm nervous myself," said Stanley Gaye, president of the Liberia Community Association of Dallas/Fort Worth.

One of the measures discussed is to encourage anyone arriving from Liberia to stay home for 21 days — the incubation time it takes symptoms to appear. Leaders discourage Liberians from organizing large social gatherings, Gaye said.

"It's really emotional," he said. "We've been praying for our country. Now, it's in our community."

A main concern is that the local infection may lead to discrimination against U.S.-bound Liberians, Kortu said. Liberians have enjoyed a good relationship with their American neighbors, and he'd hate to see that broken, he said.

"I want people to be educated," Kortu said. "I don't want them to be afraid."

Patrick Dowee, 40, originally from Liberia, who moved to the Dallas area two years ago, said news of the local infection was concerning, but he doesn't think people will treat Liberians differently, just as Liberians didn't stop mingling with Americans after the U.S. medical missionary Kent Brantly was infected while working as a doctor in Liberia.

"If you have common sense, you don't stigmatize an entire community for a sickness," he said.

The Liberian community began growing in the late 1980s, Kortu said. Other U.S. Liberian enclaves, such as those in Minnesota and Philadelphia, are larger, but the North Texas Liberians are very close-knit. They hold dinners and raise funds together and help one another in times of need. Lately, they've also been praying together as the West Africa outbreak claimed one family member after another.

Gaye said his association's secretary lost her brother and nephew to the disease. Another person lost seven relatives in the span of a few days.

Each Sunday at Kortu's service, at least one person starts sobbing uncontrollably, dealing with the loss of family members back home.

"We have been through trauma before," Kortu said. "We are dependent on God. God will see us through this."

As he speaks, his smartphone rings. It's the leader of another church with more bad news: A member of the community who recently traveled to Liberia died there after being infected with Ebola. Kortu's sister knew the man from church and attended services with him.

"Happens all the time," he said. "Now, for the next 21 days, I'll be living in fear for my sister."