Ebola patient's leaving Liberia was 'unpardonable' - Liberian President

Days before he became the first person diagnosed with Ebola on American soil, Thomas Eric Duncan answered "no" to questions about whether he had cared for a patient with the deadly virus.

Before leaving Liberia, Duncan also answered no to a question about whether he had touched the body of someone who died in an area affected by the disease, said Binyah Kesselly, board chairman of the Liberia Airport Authority. Continue.....

Witnesses say Duncan had been helping Ebola patients in Liberia. Liberian community leader Tugbeh Chieh Tugbeh said Duncan was caring for an Ebola-infected patient at a residence in Paynesville City, just outside Monrovia.

Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf told Canadian public broadcaster CBC on Thursday that she would consult with lawyers to decide what to do with Duncan when he returns home.

"The fact that he knew (he was exposed to the virus) and he left the country is unpardonable, quite frankly," Johnson Sirleaf told CBC. "I just hope that nobody else gets infected."

"With the U.S. doing so much to help us fight Ebola, and again one of our compatriots didn't take due care, and so, he's gone there and ... put some Americans in a state of fear, and put them at some risk, and so I feel very saddened by that and very angry with him, to tell you the truth."

Duncan's family said he hadn't mentioned any exposure to Ebola in Liberia.

His girlfriend says he told her he hadn't been in contact with anyone with Ebola. Wilfred Smallwood, Duncan's half-brother, said Thursday that he doesn't believe Duncan knew he had Ebola when he left Liberia for the United States. But he said it isn't out of the ordinary to come to the assistance of suffering people.

Asked about whether Duncan had contact with Ebola patients, he said, "(it's) what we do in Liberia -- our tradition is to help somebody who needs help."