Samaritan’s Purse doctor, Kent Brantly, stable after Ebola virus infection
Dr Brantly, working in Liberia, has tested positive for Ebola photo/Samaritan’s Purse
A spokeswoman for an Samaritan’s Purse says the American doctor who contracted Ebola is receiving intensive medical treatment in West Africa and is considered in “stable condition.”
Melissa Strickland, spokeswoman for North Carolina-based Samaritan’s Purse, stated Sunday that Dr. Kent Brantly was in stable condition, talking with his doctors and working on his computer while receiving care. Strickland noted that Brantly is “not out of the woods” but has “received treatment immediately after infection” and therefore stands a good chance of survival.
It was not immediately clear how he caught Ebola. “It’s too early to try to explain it. We will have an intensive and thorough investigation,” she said.
Across Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, at least 660 people have died from the illness, according to the World Health Organisation, as poor, ill-equipped African governments have struggled to cope with the virus.
Ebola kills up to 90 percent of those who catch it, although the fatality rate of the current outbreak is lower at around 60 percent. Highly contagious, patients suffer from vomiting and diarrhea as well as internal and external bleeding.
Brantly has been working with Samaritan’s Purse in Liberia since October 2013 as part of the group’s post-residency program for doctors. He is 33 years old
The statement from Samaritan’s Purse also reveals a second infection.
“A second U.S. citizen working in Liberia has tested positive for the Ebola virus. Nancy Writebol is employed by SIM in Liberia and was helping the joint SIM/Samaritan’s Purse team that is treating Ebola patients at the Case Management Center in Monrovia. SIM manages ELWA Hospital there, and the two organizations have been working closely to combat Ebola since the current outbreak began in Liberia in March…Writebol is married with two children. We request that her family’s privacy be respected during this difficult time, and please keep them in your prayers.”
More updates and information on Samaritan’s Purse: HERE
[…] The other victim is Dr. Kent Brantly, a father of two young kids who just arrived in Liberia in October 2013. After a three year residency in Fort Worth he went to serve as a medical missionary in Liberia with Samaritan’s Purse as soon as he could have it arranged. He didn’t anticipate Ebola, but when the outbreak came he chose to stay and do whatever he could to help. After months of working with victims, he too was exposed to the virus and immediately placed himself in quarantine. Dr. Brantly is now fighting for his life, but reports also have him in stable condition. […]
[…] two American health providers sickened with Ebola in Africa. “One of the healthcare workers, a physician who worked with Ebola patients in the hospital, is symptomatic and in isolation. The other health care worker developed […]