Another Ebola-infected patient, a surgeon, is heading for treatment this weekend at Nebraska Medical Center's special Biocontainment Unit. 

According to CBS News' chief medical correspondent Dr. Jon LaPook, the unnamed doctor contracted Ebola in Sierra Leone while caring for a patient infected with the disease. Sierra Leone is one of the virus' hot zones in West Africa, along with Guinea and Liberia.

USA Today added that the patient is a Sierra Leon national and is a permanent resident of the United States. He is expected to arrive at the Nebraska hospital on Saturday.

"Staff members here have been in a state of readiness to treat Ebola patients since we were first visited by the U.S. State Department in early August," the hospital said in a statement, as quoted by CBS News. "As with previous patients we've treated here in recent months, per State Department regulations, we would only have confirmation when a plane is en route with a patient aboard. This is not the case right now."

American health worker Dr. Rick Sacra and freelance videojournalist Ashoka Mukpo, both infected while working in Liberia, were also successfully treated for the disease at the Nebraska Medical Center's Biocointainment Unit, USA Today noted.

"Among the special features of the 10-bed unit are air-handling, filtration and ultraviolet systems to keep micro-organisms from spreading beyond a patient's room," USA Today reported.

Infection Count and Death Toll

The World Health Organization (WHO) stated that Ebola has killed more than 5,000 people. More than 14,000 have been infected with the disease ever since its outbreak in March of this year.

According to CBS News, at least five doctors in Sierra Leone have succumbed to the virus after contracting it.

Aside from the three hardest hit countries, new Ebola patients have been reported in Mali, months after assumptions that the country has been free of the virus, CBS News noted.

"The U.S. military is scaling back its planned Ebola response deployments from 4,000 troops to 3,000, due to a greater-than-expected number of contractors available in Liberia to provide support such as construction work," added CBS News.

Dr. David Nabarro, leader of the United Nations efforts to put a stop to Ebola, said that there are signs that the progression of the disease is slowing. Nabarro is "incredibly optimistic that in the coming months we could certainly see a diminution, and hopefully in the next year the outbreak will come to an end." CBS News further reported.