Salia had been working as a general surgeon at Kissy United Methodist Hospital in the Sierra Leone capital of Freetown. It's not clear whether he was involved in the care of Ebola patients. Kissy is not an Ebola treatment unit, but Salia worked in at least three other facilities, United Methodist News said, citing health ministry sources.

Salia first showed Ebola symptoms on Nov. 6 but tested negative for the virus. He eventually tested positive on Nov. 10.

Salia graduated from the Pan African Academy of Christian Surgeons training program in 2008. A fellow medical missionary, Richard Toupin, of Auburn, Indiana, last week described his colleague as "one of the best-trained surgeons in his country."

Bruce Steffes, executive director of PAACS, said Salia was free to practice anywhere he wanted, but that he elected to stay in Sierra Leone where the need for surgeons is immense.

Jeff Bleijerveld, director of global ministries for the United Brethren in Christ church, said he last talked to Salia in February 2013, when they met to discuss planning for a hospital in the southern part of Sierra Leone. He recalled watching Salia perform a hernia surgery on a young boy, assisted by a handyman who was not actually a doctor.

Salia's wife said in a telephone interview over the weekend that when she spoke to her husband early Friday his voice sounded weak and shaky. But she said he told her "I love you" in a steady voice.

They prayed together, she said, calling her husband "my everything."