Thirty-six hours after he was rushed to the Biocontainment Unit of Nebraska Medical Center, Sierra Leone doctor Martin Salia died on Monday of Ebola Virus. He contracted the deadly virus while serving in his native land, although his family lives in Maryland.

Phil Smith, the medical director of the Biocontainment Unit, announced the death of Salia, who he said was already in a critical condition when he was airlifted on Saturday from West Africa. He expressed regret that the best effort of this hospital failed to save Salia.

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Upon Salia's arrival at the hospital, the center's medical staff - who had previously saved two Ebola patients - pumped his body with salt water and other important compounds to replace lost fluids, hooked him to a dialysis machine and provided a ventilator to help the doctor breathe. They also injected him with blood serum from antibodies of one of the eight Ebola survivors in the U.S. At that time, Salia's kidney had failed, NBC reports.

The medical team also used other drugs such as the experimental ZMapp therapy, but even the new drug failed.

Besides the medical workers at the Nebraska Medical Center, friends, relatives, fellow doctors and U.S. President Barack Obama condoled with the family. Obama said in a statement, "Dr. Salia dedicated his life to saving others ... He viewed this vocation as his calling."

Salia, who worked at a Methodist hospital in Sierra Leone, initially tested negative for the deadly virus on November 7 even if he had been sick for days because the viral load then was relatively low. Three days later, he was tested positive.

Smith emphasized that early treatment is vital to the patient's recovery, but in the case of Salia, the doctor from Sierra Leone was in an extremely advanced stage when he arrived in the U.S. for treatment.

Dr. Jeffrey Gold, chancellor of the University of Nebraska's medical center, said that the best technology, such as those found in American tertiary hospitals, is not sufficient to help Ebola patients who have reached the critical threshold. He added it also explains the high rate of healing and recovery in the U.S. compared to African nations where the mortality rate is 70 percent due to patients going to medical centers only when they are at an advanced stage and it is too late to reverse the damage caused by the virus.

TagsDr. Martin Salia, Sierra Leone