A man who was diagnosed with the Ebola virus in Texas came in contact with young children, and experts are monitoring them for any signs of disease, governor Rick Perry says.

“Today we learned that some school-aged children have been identified as having had contact with the patient and are now being monitored at home for any signs of the disease,” Perry said at a news conference on Wednesday.

“I know that parents are being extremely concerned about that development,” he added.

“These children have been identified and they are being monitored and the disease cannot be transmitted before having any symptoms.”

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Health officials are investigating how many people may have come in close contact with the patient, who travelled from Liberia to Texas to visit family.

He arrived on September 20, but did not show symptoms until September 24. He sought medical care on September 26 but was sent home, and was isolated in the hospital on September 28.

His case is the first diagnosis of Ebola outside of West Africa in the largest outbreak of the disease in history. The epidemic has killed more than 3000 people since the beginning of the year.