U.S. Doctor Who Survived Ebola Donates Blood to Journalist with the Virus
The American doctor who was successfully treated after contracting ebola, has donated blood to an NBC freelance cameraman who has also been diagnosed with the virus, NBC News reported on Wednesday.
Doctors from the Nebraska Medical Center contacted Dr. Kent Brantly after they realized his blood type matched that of photojournalist Ashoka Mukpo.
Doctors hope antibodies in Brantly’s plasma will help kick-start Mukpo’s immune system.
“This act of kindness and generosity makes me believe in the goodness of humanity,” Mukpo’s father, Dr. Mitchell, Levy told NBC News.
University of Nebraska Medical Center’s Rosanna Morris, center, speaks to the media Monday, Oct. 6, 2014 on the treatment of Ashoka Mukpo, at a news conference in Omaha, Neb.
Image: Dave Weaver/Associated Press
The 33-year-old freelance journalist contracted Ebola while working in Liberia but was airlifted to hospital in Nebraska hospital where he will be treated for the disease in a specialized containment unit. He is the fifth American with Ebola to return to the U.S. for treatment during the latest outbreak.
The World Health Organization estimates that Ebola has killed more than 3,400 people in West Africa and infected at least twice that many.
Firemen stand as worker wearing protective clothing come out ofthe building entrance of the apartment building of the Spanish nurse infected with Ebola in Madrid, Spain, Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2014.
Health officials in Spain rushed to contain the Ebola virus on Tuesday after it got past Europe’s defenses, quarantining four people at a Madrid hospital where a nursing assistant got infected and persuading a court that the woman’s dog must die.
The economic impact of the virus, which has ravaged Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, could reach $32.6 billion by the end of next year, if it spreads to neighboring countries in West Africa, the World Bank announced on Wednesday.
“The international community must find ways to get past logistical roadblocks and bring in more doctors and trained medical staff, more hospital beds and more health and development support to help stop Ebola in its tracks,” said Jim Yong Kim, president of the World Bank.
He added that the enormous economic cost of the current outbreak to the affected countries and the world “could have been avoided by prudent ongoing investment in strengthening health care systems.”
Fear about the disease is causing neighboring countries to close their borders and airlines and businesses to suspend their commercial activities in the three worst-affected countries.
The Associated Press contributed reporting.
Have something to add to this story? Share it in the comments.