An Atlanta hospital is preparing to treat one of the two American aid workers stricken with the highly contagious and deadly Ebola virus in West Africa.
It will be the first time that a patient diagnosed with Ebola will be known to be in the United States.
Emory University Hospital said in an email to Yahoo News late Thursday that it “has been informed that there are plans to transfer a patient with Ebola virus infection to its special facility containment unit within the next several days. We do not know at this time when the patient will arrive.”
But CNN reported that a long-range business jet is already en route to Monrovia, Liberia, where medical missionaries Dr. Kent Brantly and Nancy Writebol have been under quarantine for several days and are struggling to survive.
There is no known cure or vaccine for Ebola, which is spread by direct contact with blood or bodily fluids from a sick person. Mortality rates can be from 60 to 90 percent.
The Atlanta hospital said it will have the proper protocols in place.
“For this specially trained staff, these procedures are practiced on a regular basis throughout the year so we are fully prepared for this type of situation,” the hospital said in the statement.
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