US doctor infected with Ebola in Liberia outbreak via @iKanzee_RR

WASHINGTON (AFP) – An American doctor
battling West Africa’s Ebola epidemic has
himself fallen sick with the disease in Liberia,
his aid agency said.
Samaritan’s Purse, a Christian charity, said Dr
Kent Brantly had been isolated at the group’s
Ebola treatment center at the ELWA hospital
in the Liberian capital Monrovia.
“Dr Brantly is married with two children,” the
group said, in a statement posted to its
website on Saturday.
“Samaritan’s Purse is committed to doing
everything possible to help Dr Brantly during
this time of crisis. We ask everyone to please
pray for him and his family.”
The aid agency did not immediately return
calls from AFP. The US State Department said
it was aware of an Ebola case but could not
provide information about a private individual.
Brantly is the medical director of the
Samaritan’s Purse Ebola case management
center in Liberia, where the agency continues
to work with Liberian and international health
officials to contain the outbreak.
Ebola is a hemorrhagic fever with a very high
fatality rate. Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea
have borne the brunt of the recent epidemic,
and last week Nigeria recorded its first death.
As of July 20, the number of Ebola cases
recorded in the months-long epidemic stood
at 1,093, including more than 660 deaths,
according to the World Health Organization.
The virus can fell victims within days, causing
severe fever and muscle pain, vomiting,
diarrhea and, in some cases, organ failure and
unstoppable bleeding.
Ebola is believed to be carried by animals
hunted for meat, notably bats.
It spreads among humans via bodily fluids
including sweat, meaning you can get sick
from touching an infected person.
With no vaccine, patients believed to have
caught the virus must be isolated to prevent
further contagion.
Ebola first emerged in 1976 in what is now the
Democratic Republic of Congo, and is named
after a river there.