A U.S. aid worker, who contracted the deadly Ebola virus, will return home from West Africa for treatment. The patient, whose name has not been released, will be transported to the high-security ward at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta. The unit was set up in collaboration with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Ebola symptoms typically starting within two to three weeks after contracting the virus, with a fever, throat and muscle pains, and headaches, followed by nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. The liver and kidneys begin to malfunction. The disease is contagious, and is typically carried by monkeys, pigs, and fruit bats.
Barbara Reynolds, spokesperson for the CDC, stated that they are unaware of any Ebola patient ever being treated in the United States, but five people have entered the country with either Lassa Fever or Marburg Fever, hemorrhagic fevers similar to Ebola within the past decade.
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News of the transfer follows reports of the declining health of two infected U.S. 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. Brantly and Writebol were last reported in “stable but grave” condition.
The outbreak in West Africa is the worst in history, having killed more than 700 people since February.