Rick Sacra, Missionary doctor infected with Ebola, comes to US for treatment
The latest American to be infected with Ebola while working as a missionary doctor in Africa has been flown in to the Nebraska Medical Center in order to receive treatment.
Missionary doctor Rick Sacra, 51, arrived in Omaha, Nebraska on Friday, according to local media reports. He was then transported to the hospital’s Biocontainment Patient Care Unit for treatment.
3rd US Ebola patient, Dr. Rick Sacra, headed to Omaha, NE for treatment/SIM USA
Sacra was working with pregnant women at the ELWA Hospital when he came in contact with the disease. He confirmed he had the virus and that his condition is serious enough to warrant a return to the United States.
“Rick was receiving excellent care from our SIM/ELWA staff in Liberia at our Ebola 2 Care Center,”international Christian aid organization SIM’s USA President Bruce Johnson said in a statement. “They all love and admire him deeply. However, The Nebraska Medical Center provides advanced monitoring equipment and wider availability of treatment options.”
In a press conference with reporters, Sacra’s wife, Debbie, described her husband as “clearly sick” but in“very good spirits.”
Nancy Writebol, who worked for the same organization as Sacra, and Kent Brantly were treated with an experimental drug called ZMapp after arriving in the US. Both ultimately recovered and were discharged.
The news comes as the Ebola outbreak in West Africa continues to worsen. On Wednesday, the World Health Organization said the death toll has now surpassed 1,900 people – a spike of almost 400 people since last week – making it the most deadly epidemic since the virus was first detected in 1976.
Additionally, a total of 3,500 cases have been confirmed in Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Liberia as of this week.
More details were revealed in the Outbreak News coverage HERE
[…] to contract the virus was flown back to America this week for treatment. The Global Dispatch report noted that the outbreak worsened across Africa. The Charisma article reports “that Ebola Hemorrhagic […]