US confirms first case of Ebola contracted on US soil

The infected health care worker helped care for Thomas Eric Duncan, a Liberian man who was diagnosed with Ebola in the US

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has confirmed that a Texas health care worker has tested positive for Ebola -- the first case contracted on American soil.

"This development is understandably disturbing news for the patient, the patient's family and colleagues and the greater Dallas community," the CDC said in a statement yesterday.

"The CDC and the Texas Department of State Health Services remain confident that wider spread in the community can be prevented with proper public health measures."

The infected Dallas hospital worker helped care for Thomas Eric Duncan, a Liberian man who was diagnosed with Ebola in the United States last month and died on Wednesday.

The case has sparked a CDC investigation and a hunt for more health care workers who may have been exposed to the dangerous virus.

"Careful monitoring of all health care workers who had interaction with the index patient and this second patient is warranted," the CDC said.

The health care worker remains in isolation, it added.