Liberia: Doctor infected with Ebola heading back to US

Omaha: A doctor who was infected with Ebola while working in Liberia is being flown to a Nebraska hospital for treatment, doctors there have said. Officials at the Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha said Dr Rick Sacra, 51, is expected to arrive sometime today. Sacra will begin treatment in the hospital’s 10-bed special isolation unit, the largest of four such units in the US. Sacra served with North Carolina-based charity SIM. Its president, Bruce Johnson, said Sacra was receiving excellent care at a center in Liberia, but that the Nebraska facility provides advanced monitoring equipment and a wider availability of treatment options. Sacra, who is from the Boston area, opted to head to Liberia after hearing that two other missionaries were sick. [caption id=“attachment_1698103” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Ebola health workers in Sierra Leone. Reuters.[/caption] Sacra wasn’t involved in the treatment of Ebola patients but delivered babies, so it’s unclear how he got infected with the virus that’s killed about 1,900 people. He’s the third American aid worker infected by the Ebola. The first two Dr Kent Brantly and Nancy Writebol have recovered since being flown to Emory University Hospital in Atlanta for treatment. Dr Phil Smith, medical director of the Omaha unit, would not say what time or where Sacra would arrive, citing public safety and patient confidentiality concerns. Smith and several other doctors with the unit repeatedly said Sacra’s transfer to Omaha posed no threat to the public, noting Ebola is transmitted through close contact with an infected person. He said Sacra was in stable condition in Liberia and was able to board the plane to the US under his own power, but added, “He has a long plane ride ahead of him.” Doctors in Omaha will focus on providing him basic care, Smith said, including keeping him hydrated and keeping his vital signs stable. Smith said a team of 35 doctors, nurses and other medical staffers will attend to Sacra. The team is discussing experimental treatments, including using blood serum from a patient who has recovered from Ebola, Smith said. AP