One of the United States aid workers who recovered from an Ebola infection is “thrilled to be alive” as he and another patient are discharged from hospital.
Dr Kent Brantly, 33, thanked supporters for their prayers at a news conference in Atlanta. Nancy Writebol, 59, was discharged on Tuesday.
The two were brought to the US for treatment three weeks ago. The outbreak has killed more than 1,300 people in West Africa, with many of the deaths occurring in Liberia.
“Today is a miraculous day,” said Dr Brantly, who appeared healthy if pallid as he addressed reporters yesterday at Emory University hospital.
“I am thrilled to be alive, to be well, and to be reunited with my family. As a medical missionary, I never imagined myself in this position.”
He said Ebola “was not on the radar” when he and his family moved to Liberia in October. After his family returned to the US as the Ebola outbreak tore through West Africa, he continued to treat Ebola patients and woke up on July 23 feeling “under the weather”.
Dr Brantly said he lay in bed for nine days, getting progressively sicker and weaker. On 1 August, he was flown to Atlanta for treatment at Emory.
Emory infectious disease specialist Dr Bruce Ribner said after rigorous treatment and testing, officials were confident Dr Brantly had recovered “and he can return to his family, his community and his life without public health concerns”.
The group for which he was working in Liberia, Samaritan’s Purse, said they were celebrating his recovery.
“Today I join all of our Samaritan’s Purse team around the world in giving thanks to God as we celebrate Dr Kent Brantly’s recovery from Ebola and release from the hospital,” Franklin Graham said in a statement.
Nancy Writebol’s husband David said in a statement that she was free of the virus but was significantly weakened.
The family decided to leave the hospital privately in order to allow her to rest and recuperate.
South Africa on Thursday said non-citizens arriving from Ebola-affected areas of West Africa – the countries of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone – would not be allowed into the country.
The health ministry said borders would be closed to all non-citizen travellers from Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
South African nationals will be allowed to re-enter the country when returning from high-risk countries, but will undergo strict screening.
All non-essential outgoing travel to the affected countries has been banned.
Usual screening procedures are in place for those who travel between Nigeria, Kenya and Ethiopia, which have been defined as medium-risk countries.
South Africa has experienced two Ebola scares in recent weeks, involving passengers arriving from Liberia and Guinea. But the country has managed to stay Ebola-free until now.
Johannesburg has one of the major transit airports, connecting southern Africa with the rest of the continent
The police in Liberia’s capital, Monrovia, fired live rounds and tear gas during protests after a quarantine was imposed to contain the spread of the deadly virus.
Residents of the capital’s West Point slum area said the barbed wire blockade stops them buying food and working.
Both Dr Brantly and Mrs Writebol received an experimental treatment known as ZMapp.
The drug, which has only been made in extremely limited qualities, had never been tested on humans and it remains unclear if it is responsible for their recovery.
ZMapp was also given to a Spanish priest, who died, and three Liberian health workers, who are showing signs of improvement.
The regulatory body of the healthcare sector in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, announced yesterday that the formal Ebola test has come back negative for the Nigerian woman suspected of having the virus while transiting through the Abu Dhabi International Airport last Friday.
She was known to have advanced cancer and was on her way for treatment in India, but fell ill at the Abu Dhabi International Airport, and resuscitation attempts were unsuccessful.
“Some of her signs during resuscitation, although explainable by her medical condition, could also have been caused by Ebola virus, and hence this diagnosis needed to be excluded,” the statement said.
Haad followed standard procedures for isolating the her contacts the woman’s husband and the five medical staff who tried to resuscitate her – as a precautionary measure pending the result of the Ebola test.
“Given the negative result, all these individuals are scheduled to be released from isolation today,” it added.
The Health Authority in Abu Dhabi assured the public that there is no risk to the community over the death of a 35-year-old Nigerian woman at Abu Dhabi Airport.
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