US doctor infected with Ebola in Liberia outbreak
An American doctor battling West Africa's Ebola epidemic has
himself fallen sick with the disease in Liberia , his aid agency said.
Samaritan's Purse, a Christian charity, said Dr Kent Brantly
had been isolated at the group's Ebola treatment center at the ELWA hospital in
the Liberian capital Monrovia, reports AFP.
"Dr Brantly is married with two children," the
group said, in a statement posted to its website on Saturday.
"Samaritan's Purse is committed to doing everything
possible to help Dr Brantly during this time of crisis. We ask everyone to
please pray for him and his family."
The aid agency did not immediately return calls from AFP.
The US State Department said it was aware of an Ebola case but could not
provide information about a private individual.
Brantly is the medical director of the Samaritan's Purse
Ebola case management center in Liberia ,
where the agency continues to work with Liberian and international health
officials to contain the outbreak.
Ebola is a hemorrhagic fever with a very high fatality rate.
Liberia , Sierra Leone and Guinea
have borne the brunt of the recent epidemic, and last week Nigeria
recorded its first death.
As of July 20, the number of Ebola cases recorded in the
months-long epidemic stood at 1,093, including more than 660 deaths, according
to the World Health Organization.
The virus can fell victims within days, causing severe fever
and muscle pain, vomiting, diarrhea and, in some cases, organ failure and
unstoppable bleeding.
Ebola is believed to be carried by animals hunted for meat,
notably bats.
It spreads among humans via bodily fluids including sweat,
meaning you can get sick from touching an infected person.
With no vaccine, patients believed to have caught the virus
must be isolated to prevent further contagion.
Ebola first emerged in 1976 in what is now the Democratic
Republic of Congo, and is named after a river there.
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