Ebola: American patient who may have been infected arrives at Atlanta hospital

Workers at an Ebola treatment facility. Photograph: Carl De Souza/AFP/Getty Images

An American healthcare worker who may have been infected with the Ebola virus in west Africa has arrived at a hospital near Atlanta.

Emory University Hospital spokeswoman Holly Korschun said the patient arrived around 5.45am on Thursday. Details about the patient, who will undergo testing for the disease, were not released.

Emory houses a specialised isolation unit that handled four of the 10 Ebola patients previously treated in the US.

The hospital said that as in previous cases, the patient was transported from west Africa aboard a specially equipped jet operated by Cartersville, Georgia-based Phoenix Air Group.

West Africa is suffering the worst Ebola outbreak in history, with more than 17,100 cases and at least 6,000 deaths this year. Six of those treated in the US were Americans infected while providing medical aid there.