A Texas doctor working with Ebola patients in Liberia has now tragically contracted the disease, adding to the list of health workers who have been infected with the deadly virus as a result of their work.
Dr. Kent Brantly had worked as a family practice physician in Fort Worth, Texas before traveling to Liberia to work with ebola patients, the Associated Press reports. Brantly went to Liberia as part of his work with Samaritan’s Purse, an evangelical Christian aid organization founded in 1970. Brantly, 33, is a husband and father of two.
Here’s what you need to know about him:
1. He Directed the Group’s Ebola Consolidated Case Management Center in Liberia
(Facebook/Samaritan’s Purse)
According to their Facebook page, Brantly directed Samaritan’s Purse’s Ebola Consolidated Case Management Center in Monrovia, Liberia. Since testing positive for the virus, Brantly has been admitted to a Samaritan’s Purse isolation center at the Eternal Love Winning Africa (ELWA) Hospital in Monrovia.
Brantly is now receiving treatment at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta, according to the Los Angeles Times. The Times reports he arrived in Atlanta at 11:30 Saturday morning and is being treated in an isolated wing of the hospital. According to ABC News, Brantly was offered an experimental serum to try and combat the disease, but he offered it to fellow missionary and ebola patient Nancy Writebol, since there was only enough of the serum for one person.
2. He Worked as a Family Physician in Texas
(Facebook/Jan Hegi)
According to the Associated Press, Brantly worked as a family physician in Fort Worth, Texas before heading to Liberia to work for Samaritan’s Purse. Brantly’s wife and kids had been living with him in Africa, but returned to the U.S., according to a Samaritan’s Purse spokesperson.
3. He Completed His Residency at John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth
(Facebook/Sarah Dill Blanshan)
According to WFAA, Brantly finished his residency at Fort Worth’s John Peter Smith Hospital. JPS Health Network president and CEO Robert Earley said of Brantly’s diagnosis:
One: We’re stunned. Two: It’s painful. But this is the kind of individual that he is. They go into the worst situations in the world and try to save lives.
4. Brantly’s one of Several Health Workers to Contract the Disease
Prayer need! Texas Dr. Kent Brantly (pic/left) w/Samaritan's Purse in Africa has Ebola and is in isolation. pic.twitter.com/p8WSvjUuFm
— K-LOVE News (@KLOVEnews) July 27, 2014
Brantly is one of several health workers in Western Africa who have contracted the ebola virus as a result of their work. Dr. Sheik Umar Khan, Sierra Leone’s chief ebola doctor, contracted the disease last week, after giving an interview to Reuters saying how he feared for his life because of his work. Dr. Samuel Brisbane, one of Liberia’s senior ebola doctors at the country’s largest hospital, died Saturday at a treatment center on the outskirt of Monrovia, according to the Associated Press. Brisbane was the first Liberian doctor to die in the outbreak that has killed 129 people in the country, the World Health Organization said, according to the AP.
5. Ebola Has a Mortality Rate of 90 Percent
(Facebook/Kellum Tate)
According to Time, ebola has mortality rates of 90 percent. Since the disease is transmitted through bodily fluids, health workers are at high risk for contracting the disease from patients. Symptoms of ebola include diarrhea, vomiting, internal and external bleeding and fever, according to the Centers for Disease Control.
