ROME – Fabrizio, a 50-year-old Sicilian doctor has become the first Italian to become infected with Ebola, and is to be transported to Rome for treatment, Italian officials confirmed on Monday. 

 Fabrizio, whose last name has not been released for the privacy of his family, had left his home in Sicily to travel to Sierra Leone in order provide much needed medical expertise to the Ebola plagued nation. He had been working since October 18^th in a small medical facility roughly five kilometers west of the capital Freetown, before developing several Ebola like symptoms, and then testing positive for the deadly virus in recent days.

 The Health Ministry said that the doctor would arrive at the Lazzaro Spallanzani national institute for infectious disease in Rome on Tuesday in order to receive the best care possible.  The ministry has so far said that the doctor's condition remains stable and they are hopeful that they can successfully treat him.

 "We can reassure his family that the doctor is feeling well," Health Minister Beatrice Lorenzin said in a statement. "He did not have a fever or other symptoms during the night and this morning he had his breakfast."

 The Italian Air force transported Fabrizio from Sierra Leone on Monday aboard a specialized Boeing -767 bio-containment plane, and has recently landed in the military airport of Pratica di Mare, from where he will now be transported to Rome to begin treatment.

 The Italian Air Force and Health Ministry have been adamant that have taken every precaution, saying that the plane, ambulance, hospital room and even the stretcher used to transport the patient are all specifically designed to house those infected with deadly diseases, making the accidental infection of anyone highly unlikely.

 "The whole operation took place as planned and according to the procedures which we are trained to operate," said colonel Roberto Bevels of the Italian Air Force Bio-containment unit. "At any time it was possible to attend, in the safest conditions, the patient, who was quiet along the route." He added, stressing that the patient is receiving the best possible care despite being isolated.

 The Health Ministry said that the doctor has been allowed to stay in contact with his family and recently had a phone conversation with his wife and two daughters in which he told them - "Do not worry, everything is under control: I feel good and I will be taken care of, I feel good and I will be assisted and cared for in the best way. You hear me? I'm talking to say that everything is ok."

 In an interview with Corriere Della Sera, one of the doctor’s two daughters stated, "The assurances of my father were definitely a great gift, because we heard from his voice that he is good, but fear is always there". 

 The doctor's wife went on to say that she wants "Assurances, and that she has had no contact with the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Health." 

 As of Nov. 18, there have been 15,351 Ebola cases and 5,459 deaths have been reported worldwide.