Two American health care workers infected with the Ebola virus will be transported to the United States from Liberia, Christian humanitarian organisation Samaritan's Purse announced Thursday.
Dr Kent Brantly and Nancy Writebol will be transferred to a US hospital.
Emory University Hospital confirmed Thursday that there will be a patient with Ebola in their facility. The Atlanta health centre would not confirm if Dr Brantly or Writebol would be transported to there.
Dr Brantly is the medical director for the Samaritan's Purse Ebola Consolidated Case Management Center. He spent hours caring for the centre's three Ebola-stricken patients in Monrovia before becoming infected himself. He is currently receiving treatment in an isolation unit at a Liberian hospital.
Writebol also worked at the Case Management Center, but was working with the Serving in Mission (SIM) charitable organisation. Brantly and Writebol's infections were announced by Samaritan's Purse on Sunday.
Emory University Hospital officials released a statement Thursday saying that they will receive an Ebola-stricken patient in their isolation ward, removed from other patients and departments. The isolation centre was built with input from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The hospital stated that their employees have been thoroughly prepared on how to safely treat Ebola patients, and the patient should arrive in the next several days.
Fox News reported Thursday that a medevac plane equipped with CDC biological containment equipment was on its way to Liberia. There was no scheduled return time, however.
The planned transfer of Brantly and Writebol to the US will be the first time that the Ebola virus is being brought into the country.
The deadly and contagious virus typically causes fever, diarrhea, vomiting, headache, joint pain, and other symptoms. The disease is transmitted by coming into contact with the bodily fluid of an infected person, or touching objects such as needles that have come into contact with infected bodily fluid. The CDC recommends proper sterilisation of medical equipment, and wearing protective clothing to decrease the chances of infection.
BBC News reported that the outbreak began in southern Guinea in February, and quickly spread to Liberia and Sierra Leone. At least 672 people have been killed by the virus, and there is no cure. The mortality rate of the current outbreak is 60 per cent.
