Former Ebola patients speak out on new outbreak

(2 Aug 2019) FOR CLEAN VERSION SEE STORY NUMBER: apus121450 As the second deadliest Ebola outbreak in history rages in Congo, a doctor who survived the deadly disease five years ago worries that people aren't paying enough attention. Brantly, a missionary and doctor who was infected with the virus in 2014 while caring for patients in Liberia, was the first Ebola patient brought to the United States for treatment at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta. Brantly's arrival on Aug. 2, 2014, received intense news coverage, with cameras capturing him walking from an ambulance into the hospital in a white protective suit. In a recent interview with The Associated Press, he recalled talking to his wife right after that. Brantly, who worked for the North Carolina-based aid organization Samaritan's Purse, also remembered the moment in Africa when he received the bleak diagnosis. Five years have passed since the world watched as air ambulances carrying Dr. Kent Brantly and Nancy Writebol touched down in Atlanta. The American missionaries were infected during the 2014 Ebola outbreak in Liberia. (Aug. 2) Writebol, a missionary who was the second Ebola patient brought to Emory, worked alongside Brantly at the Elwa Mission Hospital near the Liberian capital of Monrovia. She recalled a knot forming in her stomach when she and Brantly were diagnosed. On Friday, the fifth anniversary of Brantly's arrival at Emory, he and Writebol reunited in Atlanta with the medical team that treated them. Crozier had planned to join them as well but ended up having to remain in Congo, where Ebola is spreading. Brantly hugged many of the caregivers and security personnel who greeted him warmly. His children, 10-year-old Ruby and 8-year-old Stephen, strode with him down the halls at Emory toward the room where he spent most of his time recovering. The 2014-16 outbreak, the deadliest on record, killed more than 11,300 people before West Africa was declared Ebola-free in 2016. The current outbreak in Congo has killed more than 1,800 people, nearly a third of them children. It has already become the second-deadliest outbreak in history even though a highly effective experimental vaccine is now available. Brantly and Writebol said they hope their stories can bring attention to the current crisis. Writebol continues to work with Ebola survivors in Africa, and Brantly said his family plans to move to Zambia, in southern Africa, later this year to continue the kind of work he was doing in Liberia. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...