Wed Jul 30, 2014 AT 8:26 AM EDT
“He could have brought ebola here,” a Minnesota widow tells the Daily Beast. Patrick Baker did just days ago in Nigeria after spending time in Liberia. Though he worked for the Finance Ministry of Liberia, his wife and young daughters lived in Minnesota – and he traveled back as often as he could. In fact, he was scheduled to attend his kids’ birthday party in just a few weeks. If timing had been just a little bit different, ebola would have reached the U.S.