Vince Dollard, associate vice president of communications for Emory, declined to say who the arriving patient is, exactly, but did confirm that it is either Dr. Kent Brantly or Nancy Writebol, two U.S. charity workers infected in Africa. Both remain in serious condition. Writebol received an “experimental serum” Thursday afternoon while Brantly was given a blood transfusion.
This is the first time a patient infected with the Ebola virus, which can kill up to 90 percent of the people it infects in a matter of days, has been brought to the United States or the Western Hemisphere. The disease is spread via bodily fluids, necesitating strict isolation for the patients and thorough decontamination. Health-care workers like Brantly and Writebol place themselves at great risk to treat diseases like ebola. In a call with reporters Tuesday, Stephan Monroe, deputy director of the National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases at the CDC, assured listeners that the outbreak posed “little risk” to America, adding that the chances of anyone infected arriving undiagnosed were slim. In another call Thursday afternoon, CDC Director Tom Frieden said plans were in place to stop Ebola-infected people from boarding planes in West Africa.
After advising against travel to the affected areas, Frieden said increased caution is warranted. “The bottom line is that Ebola is worsening in West Africa,” he said. The CDC plans to send 50 more staff members to Liberia, Guinea, and Sierra Leone in the next month, adding to the dozen CDC workers that are already there. “It will take many months, and it won’t be easy, but ebola can be stopped,” said Frieden. “We know what needs to be done.”