First US Ebola victim, Thomas Eric Duncan, dies

The first person to be diagnosed with Ebola within the US has died, Texas hospital officials have said.

Thomas Duncan, who caught the virus in his native Liberia, was being kept in isolation in a Dallas hospital and receiving experimental drugs.

Earlier the US announced new security procedures at entry points to check travellers for symptoms of the virus.

More than 3,000 people have died in West Africa in the worst Ebola outbreak yet.

While Duncan was the first person to be diagnosed within the US, three American aid workers and a
photojournalist contracted the virus in Liberia.

       "It is with profound sadness
        and heartfelt disappointment
        that we must inform you of
        the death of Thomas Eric
        Duncan this morning at 7:51
        am," a spokesman said in a
        statement.

The news came shortly after US Secretary of State John Kerry urged all nations to boost their response to combat the virus.

    "More countries can and must
     step up," he said in a joint press
     conference with his British
     counterpart Philip Hammond.

The US has pledged as many as 4,000 troops to the region, while the UK is sending 750 military personnel to Sierra Leone.

Duncan, a Liberian national, tested positive in Dallas, Texas, on 30 September, 10 days after arriving on a flight from Monrovia via Brussels.

After going to hospital with symptoms, he told them he had been to Liberia but was sent home with antibiotics.

Four days later, he was placed in isolation and given an experimental drug to treat Ebola, but his condition continued to worsen.