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US-Based CDC Issues West Africa Travel Warning On Ebola Fears

US-Based CDC Issues West Africa Travel Warning On Ebola Fears

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control issued a travel warning against non-essential travel to Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone — West African countries where Ebola continues to spread.

The advisory comes days after a Liberian American working in West Africa died in Nigeria of ebola after making several flights in the region.

CDC Director Dr. Tom Frieden said this ebola outbreak — the worst in the history of the disease, will take months to contain and it won’t be easy, but ebola can be stopped, according to an NBCNews report. “We know what needs to be done,” he said. “CDC is surging our response, sending 50 additional disease control experts to the region in the next 30 days.”

At Calvary Church in South Charlotte Wednesday evening, hundreds gathered in the sanctuary to pray for Nancy Writebol, a fellow member and missionary who contracted ebola while helping with the treatment of those already infected in Liberia, according to a report in WSOCTV.

Nancy’s husband David is also in Liberia but not infected with ebola.

“Nancy’s spirits are high but she’s still very ill,” David said in the WSOCTV report. “She’s sitting up. She’s talking with us. She’s drinking a lot of fluids which is good for her right now.”

CNN reports a best case scenario of three-to-six months for getting the outbreak under control. More than a third of all ebola cases have occurred during this outbreak alone. “They don’t want to expose people to ebola,” said CNN correspondent Sanjay Gupta. “It’s unlikely to be exposed simply walking round but if you are injured or need to go to a hospital — could you come in contact with patients who have ebola?”

The CDC said yes you can.

In a press briefing, the CDC talked about vaccines and treatment — still at least a year away before it’s approved, CNN reports in a video.

A dose of “experimental serum” arrived in Liberia to be tried on one of two U.S. charity workers — there was only enough for one of  the two.

Dr. Kent Brantly, one of the two charity workers infected with ebola, asked that it be given to his colleague, Nancy Writebol, the group Samaritan’s Purse said Thursday, according to NBCNews.

Brantly tried an alternative treatment, using blood transfused from a young survivor of the
virus — a 14-year-old boy who had survived Ebola in Brantly’s care. The young boy and his family wanted to be able to help the doctor who saved his life.