The patient will be cared for in an area isolated from other patients,
officials say
One of the two infected Americans will be taken to hospital in
Atlanta, officials say
Medical charter flight leaves Georgia to evacuate infected Americans,
source says
Two American charity workers are described in stable, but grave condition
The fear began just after news broke Thursday that a long-range
business jet with an isolation pod left the United States for Liberia,
where it will evacuate two Americans infected with Ebola.
Twitter exploded with questions about the deadly virus, which
according to the World Health Organization is believed to have killed
hundreds in four West African nations. And with reaction to news that
two infected Americans would soon be on their way back to the United
States.
"Why are they doing this?" Robin Hunter askedin a post on Twitter.
While U.S. officials have remained mum on the issue, a source told CNN
that a medical charter flight left from Cartersville, Georgia, on
Thursday evening.
A CNN crew saw the plane depart shortly after 5 p.m. ET. The plane
matched the description provided by the source, who spoke on condition
of anonymity.
It was not immediately known when the two Americans -- identified by
the source as Dr. Kent Brantly and Nancy Writebol -- would arrive in
the United States, or where the plane would land.
At least one of the two will be taken to a hospital at Emory
University, near the headquarters of the U.S. Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention in Atlanta, hospital officials told CNN's Dr.
Sanjay Gupta.
The patient will be cared for in an isolation unit at the hospital
that is separate from patient areas, Gupta said.
With the return of Brantly and Writebol to the United States, it will
be the first time that patients diagnosed with Ebola will be known to
be in the country.
Brantly and Writebol are described as being in stable-but-grave
conditions, with both reportedly taking a turn for the worse
overnight, according to statements released Thursday by the
faith-based charity Samaritan's Purse.
No known cure
There is no known cure or vaccine for Ebola, which the World Health
Organization says is believed to have infected 1,323 people in Guinea,
Liberia, Sierra Leone and Nigeria between March and July 27.
Of those suspected cases, it is believed to have been fatal in at
least 729 cases, according to the health organization.
In the United States, the National Institutes of Health announced it
will begin testing an experimental Ebola vaccine in people as early as
September.
The federal agency has been working on the vaccine over the last few
years and says they've seen positive results when they tested it on
primates.
The NIH announcement came the same day as the CDC issued a Level 3
alert for Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, warning against any
nonessential travel to the region.
As of now, the outbreak has been confined to West Africa. But it could
spread via travel, especially since people who have Ebola may not know
it; symptoms usually manifest two to 21 days.
The symptoms include fever, headaches, weakness and vomiting, and at
an advanced stage there is internal and external bleeding.
The Eboloa outbreak is believed to be the worst in history, and even
in a best-case scenario, it could take three to six months to stem the
epidemic in West Africa, Dr. Thomas Frieden, director of the CDC, told
reporters on Thursday.
Writebol gets 'experimental serum'
Both Brantly, a 33-year-old who last lived in Texas, and Writebol were
caring for Ebola patients in Liberia.
An experimental serum was administered to Writebol this week. Only one
dose of the serum was available, and Brantly asked that it be given to
his colleague, said Franklin Graham, president of Samaritan's Purse.
Samaritan's Purse said it did not have any additional detail about the serum.
At the same time, Brantly received a unit of blood from a 14-year-old
boy who survived Ebola, the statement said. Brantly had treated the
teen, it said.
It was not immediately clear what doctors hoped the blood transfusion
would do for Brantly.
While blood transfusions have been tried before, Frieden told
reporters no one really knows why some people survive and some don't.
There have been questions about the the health of Brantly's wife and
his children, who left for Texas prior to his diagnosis.
In a statement released Thursday, Amber Brantly said she and her
children "are physically fine."
"We had left Liberia prior to Kent's exposure to the virus," she said.
"I am always anxiously awaiting any news from Liberia regarding Kent's
condition."
-CNN
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