1 Of 2 American Ebola Patients Has Colorado Roots

(CBS4) - As a hospital in Atlanta is preparing for the first Ebola victims to ever set foot on U.S. soil, a Denver doctor says people in this country shouldn't be worried about a spread of the disease.

Two American aid workers in Liberia were diagnosed with Ebola, and one has Colorado ties.

Dr. Kent Brantly and Nancy Writebol work for North Carolina-based groups. Writebol, who graduated from Evergreen High School, was getting an experimental treatment, according to sources.

Officials at Atlanta's Emory University Hospital said Thursday they expected one of the Americans to be transferred there soon. The hospital declined to identify which aid worker.

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"In people, (Ebola) is a disaster," said Dr. William Burman, the director of Denver Public Health. "It's an illness with a very high fatality rate, up to 90 percent."

More than 1,300 cases of Ebola have been reported so far across four countries and resulting in over 700 deaths, but infectious disease experts believe the U.S. has resources to control the spread of the virus, should it come here.

"It's a very serious viral infection, but it's not so easily transmitted, so I think there's a very low risk of anything -- any spread occuring within the U.S.," Burman said.

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The CDC is reminding the public that Ebola is not spread through the air, it is contracted through direct contact with bodily fluids, primarily blood.

Despite that, the U.S. government is warning Americans against travel to West Africa.