A medical worker potentially exposed to Ebola after spending time in Sierra Leone arrived in Nebraska Sunday for further evaluation. Should the patient require necessary treatment, this will be provided in the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha.
After arriving in Omaha via air ambulance, the unidentified patient was taken to the hospital. According to protocol, 21 days of monitoring will be implemented, although no visible symptoms have manifested yet. This means the patient is not yet ill and consequently not contagious.
Last year, three Ebola patients were also treated at Nebraska Medicine's Biocontainment Unit. Two successfully recovered while one, already gravely ill upon arriving at the hospital, died. Dr. Richard Sacra was admitted to the Biocontainment Unit in September while Ashoka Mukpo, a freelance cameraman for NBC News, was treated in October. Dr. Martin Salia succumbed to the disease less than two days after arriving and receiving treatment at the hospital.
Nebraska Medicine is one of four hospitals in the United States to feature a Biocontainment Unit where potential Ebola patients could be properly observed and treated, should they test positive for the disease. The 10-bed facility has been operational for almost 10 years and is staffed with personnel particularly trained to handle infectious diseases. Part of their training is engaging in routine drills to help them prepare for specific cases. Safety is assured for everyone in the hospital as well because the Biocontainment Unit is air-locked and operates on a separate air handling system than what the rest of Nebraska Medicine uses.
Since the outbreak began, around 20,000 people have already been infected by Ebola, with more than 8,000 dead. West Africa was hardest hit by the disease. As of Jan. 2, infected in Guinea totaled 2,730 while the death toll has risen to 1,739. In Liberia, there are 3,110 laboratory-confirmed cases from 8,018 reported infections and a body count of 3,423. The most number of infected individuals come from Sierra Leone, with 9,633 infected (7,476 of which are laboratory-confirmed cases), while 2,827 are dead.
No cure has been developed yet for Ebola but vaccines are being rapidly developed to address the outbreak as soon as possible. Clinical trials have also started and appear to be promising with desired results being achieved. Other trials are scheduled to take place this year in West Africa to allow scientists to observe more closely how the medications would work in a real-world setting.
