American Ebola patient 'appears to be improving,' CDC chief says



ATLANTA (CNN) -- An American doctor infected with Ebola in Liberia "seems to be improving," according to the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"It's encouraging that he seems to be improving," Thomas Frieden said of Dr. Kent Brantly on CBS' "Face the Nation" on Sunday. "That is really important, and we are hoping he will continue to improve."

The Christian charity that employs Brantly confirmed Sunday that the 33-year-old doctor received a dose of an experimental serum before leaving Liberia.

"We praise God for the news that Kent's condition is improving," said a Sunday statement from Samaritan's Purse.

Brantly, the first known patient with the deadly virus to be treated on U.S. soil, landed at Dobbins Air Reserve Base in Georgia on Saturday and was quickly rushed to Atlanta's Emory University Hospital.

He's one of two Americans sickened by the deadly viral hemorrhagic fever last month while on the front lines of a major outbreak in West Africa.

Video from Emory showed someone in a white, full-body protective suit helping a similarly clad person emerge from the ambulance and walk into the hospital.

Emory has said it will treat Brantly and fellow missionary Nancy Writebol in an isolation unit.

Equipped with an isolation unit, the plane can transport only one patient at a time. It will pick up Writebol in Liberia and bring her to Georgia early this week, said Todd Shearer of Samaritan's Purse.



Brantly's wife, parents and sister cried when they saw him on CNN walking from the ambulance into the hospital, another representative of Samaritan's Purse said on condition of anonymity. His wife, Amber, later said she was relieved that her husband was back in the United States and was "confident that he is receiving the very best care."

"I was able to see Kent today. He is in good spirits," she said Sunday. "He thanked everyone for their prayers and asked for continued prayer for Nancy Writebol's safe return and full recovery."

Amber Brantly visited her husband along with their daughter in Liberia, but Frieden said on "Face the Nation" that "that they did not have contact with him when he was sick, so it does not appear that they would be at risk."

Brantly, who has ties to Texas and Indiana, and Writebol, of North Carolina, became sick while caring for Ebola patients in Liberia, one of three West African nations hit by an outbreak.

Treatment in isolation

This will be the first human Ebola test for a U.S. medical facility. The patients will be treated at an isolated unit where precautions are in place to keep such deadly diseases from spreading, unit supervisor Dr. Bruce Ribner said.

Everything that comes in and out of the unit will be controlled, Ribner said, and it will have windows and an intercom for staff to interact with patients without being in the room.

Ebola doesn't spread through airborne or waterborne methods. It spreads through contact with organs and bodily fluids such as blood, saliva, urine and other secretions of infected people.

There is no FDA-approved treatment for Ebola, and Emory will use what Ribner calls "supportive care." That means carefully tracking a patient's symptoms, vital signs and organ function and taking measures, such as blood transfusions and dialysis, to keep patients stable.

"We just have to keep the patient alive long enough in order for the body to control this infection," Ribner said.

Writebol was given an experimental serum this week, Samaritan's Purse said, though its purpose and effects weren't immediately publicized.

The Ebola virus causes viral hemorrhagic fever, which refers to a group of viruses that affect multiple organ systems in the body and are often accompanied by bleeding.

Early symptoms include sudden onset of fever, weakness, muscle pain, headaches and a sore throat. They later progress to vomiting, diarrhea, impaired kidney and liver function -- and sometimes internal and external bleeding.

Bruce Johnson, president of SIM USA, a Christian mission organization with which Writebol also is linked, said Saturday that both were seriously ill but stable.

"My last report (on Brantly) was yesterday. ... He was ambulatory, being able to talk, converse and get up. So that was encouraging," Johnson said Saturday morning.

On Writebol, Johnson said: "She's responsive, and we're encouraged at how she's doing."

Emory's isolation unit was created with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, based down the road. It aims to optimize care for those with highly infectious diseases and is one of four U.S. institutions capable of providing such treatment.

The World Health Organization reports that the outbreak in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea is believed to have infected 1,323 people and killed more than 729 this year, as of July 27.

Fear, conspiracy theories

As officials worked to bring the two Americans home, the idea of intentionally bringing Ebola into the United States has rattled many nerves.

"The road to hell was paved with good intentions," wrote one person, using the hashtag #EbolaOutbreak. "What do we say to our kids When they get sick& die?"

On the website of conspiracy talker Alex Jones, who has long purported the CDC could unleash a pandemic and the government would react by instituting authoritarian rule, the news was a feast of fodder.

"Feds would exercise draconian emergency powers if Ebola hits U.S.," a headline read on infowars.com.

Ribner repeatedly downplayed the risk for anyone who will be in contact with Brantly or Writebol.

"We have two individuals who are critically ill, and we feel that we owe them the right to receive the best medical care," Ribner said.

The fight against Ebola

All concerns about the United States pale in comparison to the harsh reality in the hardest-hit areas.

Even in the best-case scenario, it could take three to six months to stem the epidemic in West Africa, said Frieden.

There's no vaccine, though one is in the works.

The National Institutes of Health plans to begin testing an experimental Ebola vaccine in people as early as September. Tests on primates have been successful.

So far, the outbreak is confined to West Africa. Although infections are dropping in Guinea, they are on the rise in Liberia and Sierra Leone.

In the 1990s, an Ebola strain tied to monkeys -- Ebola-Reston -- was found in the United States, but no humans got sick from it, according to the CDC.

Sierra Leone deploys military; screens passengers

In Sierra Leone, where government officials have asked citizens to stay away from work, the military has deployed at least 750 infantry and military medical officials to 13 locations, military spokesman Col. Michael Samoura said Sunday.

Meanwhile, health officials are screening incoming and outgoing passengers at the country's main international airport with a device that takes people's temperature from their eyes at a distance, CNN's David McKenzie reports.

McKenzie, who arrived Sunday at Freetown's Lungi International Airport, said anyone showing signs of fever are taken away to have their blood tested for Ebola, he said.




CNN's Jason Hanna and Faith Karimi reported from Atlanta; CNN's David McKenzie reported from Freetown, Sierra Leone. CNN's Chelsea J. Carter, Greg Botelho, Deanna Hackney, John Branch, Danielle Dellorto, Barbara Starr, MaryLynn Ryan, Ben Brumfield and Kevin Conlon contributed to this report.