Kent Brantly, the U.S. doctor who has recovered from Ebola after being infected while serving in Liberia, has donated a unit of his blood to be used to help treat Rick Sacra, another U.S. doctor currently battling the deadly infection.
“He flew out from North Carolina to Nebraska to give a unit of blood,” Franklin Graham, the president and CEO of Samaritan’s Purse, told NBC News, where the blood donation was first reported. “His blood was a perfect match.”
Brantly’s blood type is the same as Sacra’s, and also contains antibodies for this particular strain of Ebola, the Samaritan’s Purse spokesperson told Brantly flew to Omaha to donate the blood on Friday, September 5.
Sacra received the blood transfusion from Brantly at Nebraska Medical Center, where he is staying in a biocontainment unit, USA Today reported.
While Brantly did not visit Sacra in person, he was able to video chat with him for a few minutes while he was there, the Samaritan’s Purse spokesperson said.
Blood transfusions from Ebola survivors could help in treating those infected with the virus because the blood contains antibodies against the virus, according to The Washington Post.
Brantly also received a blood transfusion from an Ebola survivor while in Liberia, as well as an experimental drug called ZMapp. Nancy Writebol, another U.S. aid worker who was infected with Ebola while helping combat the outbreak in Liberia, also received ZMapp.