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[CNN]

 Atlanta (CNN) -- A Nigerian doctor has been diagnosed with Ebola nearly three weeks after a Liberian-American man with Ebola died after traveling to Lagos, Nigerian officials said Monday.

Nigerian Minister of Health Onyebuchi Chukwu told reporters that the infected physician had been treating Patrick Sawyer, a top government official in the Liberian Ministry of Finance who died of Ebola in a Nigerian hospital July 20.

Eight other people are being quarantined and three are awaiting Ebola test results, the health minister said.

Read more about Patrick Sawyer's death

Ebola transport team speaks to CNN     First American Ebola patient comes home             Aid worker Nancy Writebol, wearing a protective suit, is wheeled into Emory University Hospital on a gurney Tuesday, August 5, in Atlanta. A medical plane flew Writebol from Liberia to Atlanta after she and her colleague, Dr. Kent Brantly, were infected with the Ebola virus in the West African country. Health officials say the current Ebola outbreak in West Africa is the deadliest ever.       Nigerian health officials are on hand to screen passengers at Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos, Nigeria, on Monday, August 4. The World Health Organization reports that the Ebola outbreak in Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea and Nigeria has infected more than 1,440 people and killed more than 800 this year.       A man gets sprayed with disinfectant Sunday, August 3, in Monrovia, Liberia.       Dr. Kent Brantly, right, gets out of an ambulance after arriving at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta on Saturday, August 2. Brantly was infected with the Ebola virus in Africa, but he was brought back to the United States for further treatment.       Nurses wearing protective clothing are sprayed with disinfectant Friday, August 1, in Monrovia after they prepared the bodies of Ebola victims for burial.       A nurse disinfects the waiting area at the ELWA Hospital in Monrovia on Monday, July 28.        Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, right, walks past an Ebola awareness poster in downtown Monrovia as Liberia marked the 167th anniversary of its independence Saturday, July 26. The Liberian government dedicated the anniversary to fighting the deadly disease.        In this photo provided by Samaritan's Purse, Dr. Kent Brantly, left, treats an Ebola patient in Monrovia. On July 26, the North Carolina-based group said Brantly tested positive for the disease. Days later, Brantly arrived in Georgia to be treated at an Atlanta hospital, becoming the first Ebola patient to knowingly be treated in the United States.       A 10-year-old boy whose mother was killed by the Ebola virus walks with a doctor from the aid organization Samaritan's Purse after being taken out of quarantine Thursday, July 24, in Monrovia.       A doctor puts on protective gear at the treatment center in Kailahun, Sierra Leone, on Sunday, July 20.       Members of Doctors Without Borders adjust tents in the isolation area in Kailahun on July 20.       Boots dry in the Ebola treatment center in Kailahun on July 20.       Red Cross volunteers prepare to enter a house where an Ebola victim died in Pendembu, Sierra Leone, on Friday, July 18.       Dr. Jose Rovira of the World Health Organization takes a swab from a suspected Ebola victim in Pendembu on July 18.       Red Cross volunteers disinfect each other with chlorine after removing the body of an Ebola victim from a house in Pendembu on July 18.       A dressing assistant prepares a Doctors Without Borders member before entering an isolation ward Thursday, July 17, in Kailahun.       A doctor works in the field laboratory at the Ebola treatment center in Kailahun on July 17.       Doctors Without Borders staff prepare to enter the isolation ward at an Ebola treatment center in Kailahun on July 17.       A health worker with disinfectant spray walks down a street outside the government hospital in Kenema, Sierra Leone, on Thursday, July 10.        Dr. Mohamed Vandi of the Kenema Government Hospital trains community volunteers who will aim to educate people about Ebola in Sierra Leone.       Police block a road outside Kenema to stop motorists for a body temperature check on Wednesday, July 9.       A woman has her temperature taken at a screening checkpoint on the road out of Kenema on July 9.       A member of Doctors Without Borders puts on protective gear at the isolation ward of the Donka Hospital in Conakry, Guinea, on Saturday, June 28.       Airport employees check passengers in Conakry before they leave the country on Thursday, April 10.       CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta, left, works in the World Health Organization's mobile lab in Conakry. Gupta traveled to Guinea in April to report on the deadly virus.       A Guinea-Bissau customs official watches arrivals from Conakry on Tuesday, April 8.       Egidia Almeida, a nurse in Guinea-Bissau, scans a Guinean citizen coming from Conakry on April 8.        A scientist separates blood cells from plasma cells to isolate any Ebola RNA and test for the virus Thursday, April 3, at the European Mobile Laboratory in Gueckedou, Guinea.       Members of Doctors Without Borders carry a dead body in Gueckedou on Friday, April 1.        Gloves and boots used by medical personnel dry in the sun April 1 outside a center for Ebola victims in Gueckedou.       A health specialist works Monday, March 31, in a tent laboratory set up at a Doctors Without Borders facility in southern Guinea.       Health specialists work March 31 at an isolation ward for patients at the facility in southern Guinea.       Workers associated with Doctors Without Borders prepare isolation and treatment areas Friday, March 28, in Guinea.        Ebola outbreak in West Africa Ebola outbreak in West Africa Ebola outbreak in West Africa Ebola outbreak in West Africa Ebola outbreak in West Africa Ebola outbreak in West Africa Ebola outbreak in West Africa Ebola outbreak in West Africa Ebola outbreak in West Africa Ebola outbreak in West Africa Ebola outbreak in West Africa Ebola outbreak in West Africa Ebola outbreak in West Africa Ebola outbreak in West Africa Ebola outbreak in West Africa Ebola outbreak in West Africa Ebola outbreak in West Africa Ebola outbreak in West Africa Ebola outbreak in West Africa Ebola outbreak in West Africa Ebola outbreak in West Africa Ebola outbreak in West Africa Ebola outbreak in West Africa Ebola outbreak in West Africa Ebola outbreak in West Africa Ebola outbreak in West Africa Ebola outbreak in West Africa Ebola outbreak in West Africa Ebola outbreak in West Africa Ebola outbreak in West Africa Ebola outbreak in West Africa Ebola outbreak in West Africa Ebola outbreak in West Africa HIDE CAPTION   << <      1      2      3      4      5      6      7      8      9      10      11      12      13      14      15      16      17      18      19      20      21      22      23      24      25      26      27      28      29      30      31      32      33   > >>     Photos: Ebola outbreak in West Africa       Map: The Ebola outbreak   Map: The Ebola outbreak    Meanwhile, the World Health Organization reports an outbreak of the virus in Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea and Nigeria is believed to have infected 1,440 people and killed more than 826 this year.

The United States is planning to send 50 health experts to West Africa to help contain the outbreak.

"This is the biggest and most complex Ebola outbreak in history," CDC Director Dr. Tom Frieden said in a statement.

"It will take many months, and it won't be easy, but Ebola can be stopped. We know what needs to be done," he said.

Frieden said the 50 experts from the CDC will work to combat the outbreak and help implement stronger systems to fight the disease.

The Ebola virus causes viral hemorrhagic fever, which affects multiple organ systems in the body and is often accompanied by bleeding.

Early symptoms include sudden onset of fever, weakness, muscle pain, headaches and a sore throat. They later progress to vomiting, diarrhea, impaired kidney and liver function -- and sometimes internal and external bleeding.

The United States had not treated an Ebola patient until last week, but the CDC has spearheaded efforts to prepare for the deadly virus.

It helped create an isolation unit at Emory University Hospital, which is being used to treat American doctor Kent Brantly, who contracted Ebola in Liberia and was evacuated to the facility in Atlanta over the weekend.

A second American patient, Nancy Writebol, is scheduled to arrive from Liberia on Tuesday. She will undergo treatment at the same unit.

Emory is one of four U.S. institutions capable of providing such treatment.

But in the nations hardest-hit and not as prepared, the reality is grim. Even in the best-case scenario, it could take three to six months to stem the epidemic in West Africa, Frieden said.

Ebola spreads through contact with organs and bodily fluids such as blood, saliva, urine and other secretions of infected people. It has no cure. The most common treatment requires supporting organ functions and maintaining bodily fluids such as blood and water long enough for the body to fight off the infection.

So far, the outbreak has been confined to West Africa.

Ebola also claimed the life of a medical director at a hospital in Liberia's capital, Monrovia. Dr. Patrick Nshamdze tested positive Tuesday after being sick for two weeks. He died Saturday.

In Sierra Leone, where government officials have asked citizens to stay away from work, the military has deployed at least 750 medical officials to 13 locations, military spokesman Col. Michael Samura said.

Health officials are screening incoming and outgoing passengers at the country's main international airport with a device that takes people's temperature from their eyes at a distance.

Anyone showing signs of fever is quarantined and their blooded in tested.

What is the risk of catching Ebola on a plane?

Experts: U.S. health care system well-prepared for Ebola

Ebola's frontline: Battling fear and deadly virus

CNN's David McKenzie contributed to this report from Freetown, Sierra Leone. Journalist Heather Murdock reported from Nigeria. CNN's Nana Karikari-apau and Christabelle Fombu contributed to this report.
Source: CNN