Doctors Working to Save Third American With Ebola

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WebMD Health News
Sept. 3, 2014 -- The third American infected with Ebola was clad in protective gear as he delivered babies at ELWA Hospital in Liberia -- and he was not treating patients known to have the virus.
At a news conference on Wednesday, Bruce Johnson, president of the Christian missionary group SIM USA, identified the doctor as 51-year-old Rick Sacra, MD.
Public records show Sacra is a family practice physician from Holden, MA. He and his wife Debbie have three children.
Sacra has been working with SIM since the late 1980s. He volunteered to go back to Liberia a month ago after he heard that his colleagues Dr. Kent Brantly and Nancy Writebol had caught the disease.
In an interview with NBC, Brantly described Sacra as “a dear friend.â€
Johnson said Sacra’s point of contact with the Ebola virus isn't yet known, though staff members at ELWA Hospital are working with CDC investigators to figure out how he got sick.
“They check patients at our hospital before admittance for Ebola symptoms,†Johnson told reporters. “There’s a strong possibility that the Ebola symptoms were masked.â€
Sacra is being treated at the Ebola isolation ward at ELWA Hospital, a 35-bed facility that’s overcrowded, according to Will Elphick, country director for SIM Liberia, who also spoke at the news conference.
Despite the cramped conditions, Johnson said Sacra is getting excellent care and is in good spirits. “Many of those who are caring for Rick are those he has taught and mentored in his medical practice,†he said.
While there are currently no firm plans to bring him back to the U.S., Johnson said the organization was “exploring all opportunities and options.â€
When asked if Sacra might receive a dose of the experimental drug ZMapp, Johnson said it was his understanding, based on news reports, that there is no more ZMapp in the world. Mapp Biopharmaceuticals, the company that developed ZMapp, released a statement last month saying supplies of the medication are exhausted.
So far, seven health care workers are known to have received doses of ZMapp, a 12-hour infusion of Ebola-fighting antibodies. Two have died, despite treatment.*The latest to get the drug was British nurse William Pooley, who was discharged from a London hospital Sept. 3.
While it’s not clear if the drug helped, the BBC reported that his doctors said the levels of Ebola virus in Pooley’s blood fell after treatment. And last week, a study of 18 monkeys infected with Ebola showed all survived after they received the drug.
On Sept. 2, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced it had awarded a $25 million contract to Mapp Biopharmaceuticals to speed up the testing and making of ZMapp.