A Samaritan’s Purse doctor afflicted with the deadly Ebola virus in Liberia, declined to take an experimental serum, insisting that a missionary be given the treatment instead.
Dr. Kent Brantly and Nancy Writebol of Charlotte remain in stable but grave condition after contracting Ebola at the hospital in Liberia where they were treating patients of the outbreak.
Brantly took a slight turn for the worse overnight, said Franklin Graham, president of Samaritan’s Purse, the international Christian relief organization headquartered in Boone.
“An experimental serum arrived in the country Wednesday, but there was only enough for one person. Dr. Brantly asked that it be given to Nancy Writebol,” Graham said.
From Ebola Comes to U.S. for First Time, CNN:
The Ebola virus is coming to the United States for what’s thought to be the first time, as two Americans return home after getting infected while helping others cope with the outbreak ravaging West Africa.
The first patient is expected to arrive in the United States on Saturday afternoon, U.S. officials said. The aircraft carrying that person will land at Georgia’s Dobbins Air Reserve Base, then take off again for Liberia to get the second American infected with Ebola.
Both are expected to head to Emory University Hospital in Atlanta, according to Dr. Bruce Ribner, who oversees the special isolation unit where they will be treated. On Friday, he described the patients as “stable” and “safe to transport.”
The Emory unit — created in conjunction with U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which is based down the road — is designed to optimize care for those with infectious diseases while safeguarding health care workers and visitors. Emory’s hospital is one of only four U.S. institutions capable of such care, according to Ribner.
He pointed out many precautions in place to prevent the deadly virus from spreading. These include controlling everything that comes into and out of the unit, “special air handling” and windows and an intercom so guests can interact with patients without being in the room.
As one of four physicians overseeing the patients’ treatment, Ribner said, “I have no concerns about either my personal health or the health of the other health care workers who will be working in that unit.”
Ebola isn’t “some mystical pathogen (with) some bizarre mode of transmission,” the doctor noted, adding that it is transmitted similarly to illnesses like SARS or HIV.
But while the Emory staff members are confident, that doesn’t mean they have experience dealing with Ebola, which the World Health Organization reports has infected more than 1,300 people and killed over 700 in recent weeks in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea. In fact, no U.S. medical facility has had a known patient with the virus.
That’s because, as Ribner pointed out, “this particular pathogen is new to the United States.”
The patients are health care workers themselves: Nancy Writebol and Dr. Kent Brantly were infected while treating Ebola patients in Liberia last month. They have been in serious condition for three days.
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In