Thomas Eric Duncan died of Ebola in hospital in Dallas, Texas.  The 42-year old Liberian man was infected with the deadly virus when he assisted a pregnant neighbor who was having troubles getting treatment in Monrovia, and didn’t come down with symptoms until after he arrived in Texas to start a new life with his girlfriend.  His family says Duncan was treated poorly and they were kept in the dark.

“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,” read the statement from Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas. 

But Duncan’s American nephew Josephus Weeks said Duncan’s loved ones were ostracized by hospital staffers.  “We call.  We get the phone hang up on.  We stay on hold for 30 minutes.  Sometimes we call we get bounced around the hospital about fifteen minutes and then get told we can’t speak to Eric,” he told journalist Ronan Farrow of America’s MSNBC network.

“But after (US civil rights leader) Reverend (Jesse) Jackson stepped in and he cried out for help for us, then a lot of people started changing their mindset.  And coming in to assist and being more receptive to our needs.”

Duncan’s family believes that America’s for-profit healthcare system and growing intolerance for Blacks and Immigrants in conservative circles played a role in the shabby treatment that Duncan and the family received.  Duncan first came to hospital on 24 September, explaining that he was from Liberia and showing symptoms of Ebola – but he was given a handful of antibiotics and turned away.  Duncan wasn’t admitted into isolation until days later, on 28 September.  Weeks speculates that because Duncan was a poor black man, an immigrant with an accent, with no health insurance, he fell to the bottom of the hospital’s priorities list.  Hours after Duncan died, the hospital’s surrogates were on the cable news networks touting its compassion and dedication.

Meanwhile, a Dallas County deputy who helped quarantine Duncan’s apartment has himself been put in quarantine after feeling ill.  Officials said it’s unlikely that the deputy has Ebola, but he’s considered “low-risk”.