US To Evacuate Ebola Victims From Liberia
Category: Health & Physical Fitness
But it was not immediately clear if either Brantly or Writebol would be taken to Emory.
The Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention in the United States, CDC, has
announced that two Americans suffering from Ebola disease in Liberia
will be evacuated back home in the next few days.
According to a statement released by
the deputy spokeswoman of CDC, Marie Harf, on Friday, 1 August,
2014, the two Ebola victims would be taken to the US to be cared for in
strict isolation.
“The safety and security of US citizens is
our paramount concern,” deputy spokeswoman Marie Harf said, confirming
the State Department was facilitating the medical evacuation with the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
“Every precaution is being taken to move
the patients safely and securely, to provide critical care en route on a
non-commercial aircraft and to maintain strict isolation upon arrival
in the United States.”
They will be “taken to medical facilities with appropriate isolation and treatment capabilities,” Harf added in her statement.
It would be recalled that Samaritan’s Purse, a
US charity, has said that two of its staff members, doctor Kent Brantly
and another American missionary worker, Nancy Writebol, were stricken
with the virus in Liberia.
Both “are in stable but grave condition,” the group said Thursday in a statement.
However, Harf declined to identify the two patients who would be evacuated due to privacy concerns.
Meanwhile, Emory University Hospital, in southern Georgia, has also said that it is preparing to receive “a patient with Ebola virus infection to its special facility containment unit within the next several days.”
But it was not immediately clear if either Brantly or Writebol would be taken to Emory.
“CDC protocols and equipment are used for these kinds of medical evacuations so that they are carried out safely,” Harf added.
According to the deputy spokeswoman, this action was taken in an effort to protect “the patient and the American public, as has been done with similar medical evacuations in the past.”
It was gathered that Brantly, 33, became
infected with Ebola while working with patients in the Liberian capital
of Monrovia as he helped treat victims of the worst Ebola outbreak in
history.
According to the World Health
Organization, WHO, the Ebola epidemic currently in West Africa could
spread to other countries if not properly controlled.
The WHO raised the death toll by 57 to 729 on
Thursday, announcing that 122 new cases had been detected between
Thursday and Sunday last week, bringing the total to more than 1,300
since the epidemic began earlier this year.
It would be recalled that one case of
the Ebola virus was detected in Nigeria last week via a Liberian
businessman, Patrick Sawyer, when he arrived Lagos international
airport.
The Liberian man was later declared dead by the Lagos State health authorities.
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