Ebola infected missionary heading to US

Ebola infected missionary heading to US
Taken from

A MISSIONARY infected with Ebola while serving in Liberia is being flown to a US hospital for treatment.

OFFICIALS at the Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha say Dr Rick Sacra, 51, will begin treatment in the hospital's special isolation unit, believed to be the largest in the US.

Sacra served with the charity SIM. Its president, Bruce Johnson, says Sacra is receiving excellent care at a centre in Liberia, but the Nebraska facility provides advanced equipment and treatment options.

Sacra went to Liberia after hearing that two other missionaries were sick.

He was infected by the virus that has killed about 1,900 people.

He's the third American aid worker infected by Ebola. The first two - Dr Kent Brantly and Nancy Writebol - have recovered since being flown to Emory University Hospital in Atlanta for treatment.

Dr Phil Smith, medical director of the Omaha unit, and several other doctors who head the team for the biocontainment unit, have repeatedly said Sacra's transfer to the US poses no public threat.

Ebola is transmitted through close contact with an infected person.