Former Ebola patient Dr. Kent Brantly traveled to Nebraska to donate blood for Dr. Rick Sacra, who is currently fighting the same deadly disease.
According to Franklin Graham, the present CEO and president of Samaritan's Purse where Dr. Brantly is a missionary along with Nancy Writebol, Dr. Brantley flew from his native North Carolina to help a fellow doctor infected with the Ebola virus and now recuperating in Nebraska Medical Center. He then received two plasma transfusions, and so far, based on his report, they believe that the transfusion is working.
The World Health Organization has pushed for the transfusion of antibodies from Ebola survivors in the hope the victims will be able to develop antibodies that can increase their own immunity and survival of the disease.
Like Dr. Brantly, Dr. Sacra was also working as a volunteer in Liberia after he discovered that the disease robbed other patients off their needed treatment. However, unlike the other two doctors who were brought to the United States, Dr. Sacra was given a different type of drug as there are no more ZMapp doses available.
According to Dr. Sacra's family, the doctor is showing significant improvement. Although his health remains delicate-he continues to receive electrolyte supplements and his nutrition is fed intravenously-he's able to joke around and eat breakfast. Before he can be released from the facility, however, two blood samples taken 48 hours apart should be drawn from him, and both should show no signs of the virus.
The present Ebola outbreak continues to kill hundreds of people in West Africa, especially in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. While there are vaccines in the work, they won't be released anytime soon, and the present medical therapies are experimental. Moreover, to prevent it from spreading, the United Nations caps the cost at no less than $600 million. Last September 11, 2014, Thursday, Paul Allen, co-founder of Microsoft, pledges $9 million through his foundation.