WORCESTER (
MyFoxBoston.com) -- UMass Memorial Medical Center will provide an update on the condition of former Ebola patient Dr. Rick Sacra Sunday afternoon, according to press release from the hospital.
Dr. Sacra was admitted to the hospital Saturday and was under observation after suffering from a persistent cough and low-grade fever, according to the mission organization he worked with, SIM USA.
The organization said there was concern he might be developing Pneumonia. Sacra was then transferred to UMass Memorial Medical Center for observation under CDC guidelines.
Sacra was the third American to be diagnosed with Ebola, contracting the disease while helping others in Liberia.
He was flown to The Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha where he was treated and declared free of the virus. He was discharged on Sept. 25 after spending three weeks in an isolation unit and passing three CDC tests to prove he had no trace of the illness.
According to SIM USA, Sacra and doctors at UMass have been in communication with Sacra's doctors at The Nebraska Medical Center.
The Nebraska Medical Center called Sacra's condition "a routine respiratory illness." They said Sacra had been suffering from a persistent cough and low-grade fever for several days, and, "out of an abundance of caution, decided to go to the hospital to have an e-ray performed," according to the medical center.
"Because of his recent battle with the Ebola virus, his immune system is compromised," said Dr. Phil Smith, medical director of the Biocontainment Unit at The Nebraska Medical Center, and one of the doctors who treated Sacra.
Doctors at UMass Memorial where Sacra is being treated also do not believe the illness is a recurrence of the Ebola virus, but are keeping him in isolation until they have confirmation of his illness.
"Dr. Sacra is in stable condition and being monitored carefully. We're waiting for final test results from the CDC which we expect to receive late Monday," said Dr. Robert Finberg, MD, professor and chair of medicine, UMass Memorial Medical Center, an infectious disease expert leading Dr. Sacra's team of doctors.
Stay with Fox 25 for continuing coverage of this developing story.
