American doctor Kent Brantly, who contracted the Ebola virus in Liberia, west Africa, left the Atalanta hospital after being treated with an experimental serum, the charity Brantly works for said Thursday.
Samaritan’s Purse head Franklin Graham said in a statement that Brantly has recovered. Today I join the Samaritan’s Purse team around the world to thank God for Kent Brantly’s recovery and his release from the hospital, he wrote.
Brantly is considered the first-ever Ebola patient to be treated in the US. Since his diagnosis, he has been subjected to experimental therapy with the drug ZMapp, which had previously only been tested in monkeys. He was in the specialist ward of Emory University Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia.
The hospital, in its own statement, announced that it would convene a press conference on Thursday to focus on the departure of Brantly and American nurse Nancy Writebol, who also contracted Ebola in Liberia shortly thereafter. They both fell ill, helping to contain the epidemic. In early August, they were transported to the USA for treatment. The announcement does not indicate whether both patients are still in hospital.
Liberia is, along with Guinea, Sierra Leone and Nigeria, one of the countries in West Africa that has been experiencing an unprecedented epidemic of hemorrhagic fever caused by the dangerous Ebola virus for several months. According to the latest data from the World Health Organization (WHO), since March this year. Nearly 1350 people died of the disease and 2473 were infected.
The symptoms of the disease include: fever, internal and external haemorrhage, and in the final stage of the disease – vomiting and diarrhea. Infection occurs through contact with the body fluids of a sick person. There is currently no cure for the Ebola virus, and mortality among infected people can be as high as 90 percent. (PAP)