Shortly after his arrival in Omaha on Friday, Dr. Rick Sacra was transported to the Nebraska Medical Center where he is now receiving treatment for the Ebola virus disease that he contracted while treating patients in a Liberian maternity ward. Dr. Sacra is now the third health worker to have been infected with the virus in West Africa and evacuated to the United States for treatment.
Officials at the Nebraska Medical Center have released a public statement saying that Dr. Sacra is now showing signs of improvement and his family has even been at the hospital on Saturday to visit the patient and were allowed to speak to him although they were just communicating over a video link. Dr. Sacra is being held in isolation at eight special bio-containment unit inside the hospital.
His wife, Debbie Sacra, said, "Rick is very sick and weak, but slightly improved from when he arrived yesterday. He asked for something to eat and had a little chicken soup." Her husband is now trying to catch up on his rest and admits that he does not remember much about his trip back to the United States. She has expressed hope that her husband's condition would bring more attention and shine a light on the escalating situation in West Africa, saying that, "[We] don't want the story to be about Rick. The story is the crisis in West Africa. That is what is important. The world is coming to this fight late." The family is just very happy and "relieved to see his face and hear his voice again."
According to doctors from the hospital, they are considering drug interference therapy using experimental drugs as well as using serum from a surviving Ebola patient to combat the virus. At the moment, there is no known cure for the Ebola virus, although accelerated clinical trials are already underway to try and find a therapeutic remedy or prevention for the disease.
