Thomas Eric Duncan, the first Ebola patient diagnosed in the United States, has slipped into critical condition last Saturday in a Dallas hospital, two days after he was listed in a "serious condition" by doctors.

The deterioration of Duncan's condition came amid reports from health authorities that most of  the scores of people believed to have had contact with Duncan had been tracked around the country and so far, these people tested negative for the virus.

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Health investigators from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention based in Atlanta  said they have narrowed down the number of people in Dallas who had direct contact and at highest risk of infection from Duncan to ten people.

Health investigators from the CDC said they have quarantined the ten people who were at highest risk of exposure to Duncan in Dallas. All of them are in isolation and are fully cooperating with health authorities.

Officials said the people were staying voluntarily in the quarantine and that no orders were actually issued for  their confinement.

The health authorities said that the five schoolchildren who were reported to have had contact with Duncan are being monitored at home though none of them exhibited  symptoms of the Ebola disease.

The ten people at  the highest risk of Ebola exposure from Duncan and who are now in isolation are the four members of  a family Duncan stayed with in an apartment when he got ill and six health workers including those who transported him to the Presbyterian hospital in September 28, days after he was sent home by the same hospital after a check up.

The Ebola scare has heightened concerns among the U.S. citizens after Duncan's diagnosis two weeks ago. The people have expressed alarm over the potential spread of the virus from West Africa that have killed more than 3,000 people.

CDC Director Dr. Thomas Frieden said hospitals all over the country have become vigilant in checking and screening incoming patients for the disease especially if they have just come from Africa.

The Ebola disease manifests symptoms similar to flu. It can cause fever, vomiting and diarrhea and is spread through contact with bodily fluids such as sweat, saliva and blood.

Frieden said despite the inquiries they have received of over 100 potential Ebola cases since Duncan was admitted this week in the Texas Presbyterian Hospital, no new cases of the disease have been confirmed.

TagsThomas Eric Duncan, Ebola Virus, CDC