A Patient With Ebola Is On US Soil For The First Time In History

Early on Saturday, Dr. Kent Brantley, an American doctor who got Ebola while treating patients in Liberia, was evacuated by air ambulance en route back to the U.S. Now Emory University has confirmed that he safely arrived at their hospital in Atlanta at 12:30pm Eastern Time.

This is the first time a patient with Ebola has been on U.S. soil.

The second American healthcare worker with Ebola will be transferred to Emory sometime this week, as only one patient can be carried at a time in the highly specialized air ambulance.

The current Ebola outbreak in Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea, has infected 1,322 and killed 728, with one additional death in Nigeria.

Here is the full statement from Emory:

As anticipated, an American patient with Ebola virus infection has been transferred from an overseas location to a special isolation facility in Emory University Hospital for treatment. After ambulance transfer from Dobbins Air Force Base in Marietta, Ga., the patient arrived at Emory University Hospital on Saturday, Aug. 2 at approximately 12:30 p.m. ET.

This special isolation unit was previously developed to treat patients who are exposed to certain serious infectious diseases. It is physically separate from other patient areas and has unique equipment and infrastructure that provide an extraordinarily high level of clinical isolation.

Emory University Hospital physicians, nurses and staff are highly trained in the specific and unique protocols and procedures necessary to treat and care for this type of patient. The standard, rigorous infection control procedures used at Emory protect the patient, Emory health care workers, and the general public. As the CDC says, Ebola does not pose a significant risk to the U.S. public.

Emory University anticipates that a second American patient with Ebola virus infection will be transferred to Emory University Hospital the week of Aug. 3.