Ebola: Sick American to be treated in US

CHICAGO. — A US aid worker who was infected with the deadly Ebola virus while working in West Africa will be flown to the United States to be treated in a high-security ward at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta, hospital officials said on Thursday. The aid worker, whose name has not been released, will be moved in the next several days to a special isolation unit at Emory. The unit was set up in collaboration with the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. CDC spokesperson Barbara Reynolds said her agency is working with the US state department to facilitate the transfer.

Reynolds said the CDC is not aware of any Ebola patient ever being treated in the United States, but five people in the past decade have entered the country with either Lassa Fever or Marburg Fever, haemorrhagic fevers similar to Ebola.

News of the transfer follows reports of the declining health of two infected US aid workers, Dr Kent Brantly and missionary Nancy Writebol, who contracted Ebola while working in Liberia on behalf of North Carolina-based Christian relief groups Samaritan’s Purse and SIM.

“I remain hopeful and believing that Kent will be healed from this dreadful disease”, Amber Brantly, the wife of Dr Brantly, said in a statement.
Earlier on Thursday, White House spokesperson Josh Earnest said the state department was working with the CDC on medical evacuations of infected American humanitarian aid workers. — Reuters.

You Might Also Like

Comments

Take our Survey

We value your opinion! Take a moment to complete our survey