A fourth American sickened with Ebola virus disease (EVD) in West Africa arrived today by air ambulance and is being treated at Atlanta's Emory University Hospital, as countries scrambled to send aid, with case and death numbers rising even higher in the three hardest-hit countries.According to a statement from Emory, the patient arrived at the hospital at 10:25 am local time. Television news footage showed the patient walking into the hospital in head-to-toe protective gear with assistance from a health worker, also in full protective gear.
The hospital said the patient will be treated in the same isolation unit where two American medical workers also sickened in West Africa were treated in August before their release.
Patient could be WHO doctor
Emory said it was unable to list details about the patient, due to confidentiality requirements. However, media sources suggested the patient is a doctor who got sick while working for the World Health Organization (WHO).
Yesterday the WHO announced that one of its doctors was infected with the virus while working in Sierra Leone and would be evacuated to another country. It did not say where the doctor is from or give any other details, but some media outlets citing the US State Department said the doctor is from the United States.
The patient hospitalized at Emory today is the fourth American to be airlifted out of West Africa's EVD outbreak region. The third American, Rick Sacra, MD, is being...
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