First US ebola patient dies in Texas hospital

The first person diagnosed with ebola in the US died yesterday as the government ordered five airports to screen passengers from West Africa for fever.

The administration of President Barack Obama has been under pressure from lawmakers to enhance screening and even ban flights after Liberian national Thomas Eric Duncan, 45, flew to Dallas, Texas, in late September after having contact with a woman who later died of ebola.

The White House said extra screening for fever will be carried out for arriving aircraft passengers from West Africa, where the virus has killed nearly 4,000 people in three countries.