- NEW: Air ambulance crew to evaluate patient's health before transport
- Official: A new Ebola patient will be transported to the United States from Sierra Leone
- The patient, a surgeon who's a Sierra Leone national, will be treated in Nebraska
- The surgeon is a legal permanent resident of the U.S. and married to a citizen
(CNN) -- A surgeon infected with Ebola will be transported from Sierra Leone to The Nebraska Medical Center for treatment, a U.S. government official familiar with the situation said.
The doctor, a Sierra Leone national and legal permanent resident of the United States, is expected to arrive this weekend, most likely Saturday, the official said.
The official said it's not known whether the doctor was working in an Ebola treatment unit or some other type of hospital. The surgeon is married to a U.S. citizen and has children, the official said.
Sierra Leone has seen more than 5,300 cases of Ebola and more than 1,100 deaths in this year's outbreak of the deadly virus, according to figures from the World Health Organization.
The first Ebola patient in New York City, Dr. Craig Spencer, gets a hug from New York Mayor Bill de Blasio during a news conference at Bellevue Hospital Center on Tuesday, November 11. Now free of Ebola, Spencer was released 19 days after being diagnosed with the virus. The physician had been working with Doctors Without Borders, treating patients in Guinea. 
Thomas Eric Duncan was a Liberian resident who flew to Dallas to visit family and friends in September. He became ill after the flight and was hospitalized on September 28, becoming the first Ebola patient diagnosed in the United States. He died on October 8. 
Amber Vinson was one of two nurses diagnosed with Ebola after treating Liberian patient Thomas Eric Duncan in Dallas. She was released from Atlanta's Emory University Hospital on October 28 -- two weeks after she was hospitalized in Dallas and 13 days after she was transferred to Emory. 
Nina Pham is a nurse who also treated Thomas Eric Duncan at a Dallas hospital. Pham tested positive for Ebola on October 11, three days before her colleague Amber Vinson. She eventually was treated at a National Institutes of Health facility in Maryland, which declared her Ebola-free on October 24. 
Dr. Tom Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, has led the effort to evacuate and treat American patients. He has also helped U.S. hospitals prepare for a possible outbreak at home. The CDC has teams working in West Africa assisting with contact tracing and infection control. 
Dr. Kent Brantly contracted Ebola while working as the medical director for Samaritan's Purse Ebola Care Center in Monrovia, Liberia, in July. He was the first person to be treated with the experimental drug ZMapp, and he was the first patient to be brought to the United States. Treatment at Atlanta's Emory University Hospital started on August 2, and he was released on August 21. 
Nancy Writebol, an American missionary, tested positive for Ebola in Liberia in July. She was flown to Atlanta's Emory University Hospital, arriving on August 6, and she was released on August 19. 
Dr. Margaret Chan has been the World Health Organization's director-general since 2006. Originally from China, she has a strong background in communicable diseases and infection control. 
American Dr. Rick Sacra was delivering babies in a hospital in Liberia when he contracted Ebola. He tested positive in Liberia on September 1 and was eventually flown to the United States, where he became the first Ebola patient to be treated at the Nebraska Medical Center's biocontainment unit. He was declared Ebola-free on September 25. 
American Ashoka Mukpo is a freelance cameraman who was working for NBC News in Liberia when he became ill with Ebola symptoms. He was flown to the Nebraska Medical Center on October 6, and he was declared Ebola-free on October 21. 
Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has been very outspoken about the international community's response to the Ebola outbreak in West Africa. Liberia has had the most cases and deaths of all the countries affected by the outbreak. 
Alpha Conde is the president of Guinea, which has had more than 1,100 cases, including 739 deaths. 
Ernest Bai Koroma is the president of Sierra Leone, which has had more than 2,400 cases, including 623 deaths. 
The well-known Dr. Sheik Humarr Khan, left, died after contracting Ebola while helping patients in Sierra Leone. 
A nurse's assistant, Teresa Romero Ramos, tested positive for Ebola after treating a Spanish missionary in Madrid. Her case was the first recorded transmission of Ebola outside of West Africa for this particular outbreak. She was treated and later declared Ebola-free. 
Spanish priest Manuel Garcia Viejo was diagnosed with Ebola while working in Sierra Leone. He was flown back to Spain for treatment before he died. 
Patrick Sawyer collapsed after getting off a plane in Lagos, Nigeria, and later died. Health officials believe he was the start of the small outbreak in that country. Who's who in the Ebola outbreak
Who's who in the Ebola outbreak
Who's who in the Ebola outbreak
Who's who in the Ebola outbreak
Who's who in the Ebola outbreak
Who's who in the Ebola outbreak
Who's who in the Ebola outbreak
Who's who in the Ebola outbreak
Who's who in the Ebola outbreak
Who's who in the Ebola outbreak
Who's who in the Ebola outbreak
Who's who in the Ebola outbreak
Who's who in the Ebola outbreak
Who's who in the Ebola outbreak
Who's who in the Ebola outbreak
Who's who in the Ebola outbreak
Who's who in the Ebola outbreak
Photos: Who's who in the Ebola outbreak The Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha is one of four hospitals in the United States that have biocontainment units and years of preparation in handling highly infectious disease such as Ebola.
In a statement Thursday night, a spokesman said the hospital is still awaiting official confirmation about whether it will treat another Ebola patient. First, hospital spokesman Taylor Wilson said, air ambulance crew members will evaluate the patient when they arrive in Sierra Leone.
"The members of the crew will determine whether the patient is stable enough for transport -- if he is, he would arrive in Omaha sometime Saturday afternoon," Wilson said in a written statement. "We will update you on the status of this patient as more information becomes available."
Doctors at The Nebraska Medical Center have already treated two American Ebola patients. Dr. Rick Sacra was treated at the hospital and released in September. Ashoka Mukpo, a freelance cameraman who worked for NBC, was treated there and released last month.
Sacra and Mukpo contracted the virus in Liberia and were later flown to the United States for treatment.
So far, the limited number of Ebola cases treated in the United States have shown a higher survival rate than cases treated in West Africa.
A number of factors could impact the latest patient's treatment, CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta told "AC360."
"We don't know how sick he is," Gupta said. "We don't know what stage of the disease he is (in)."
Sierra Leone: In the eye of the Ebola storm
CNN's Catherine E. Shoichet, Teri Genova and Matthew Stucker contributed to this report.
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