npr | An isolation unit at Emory University's hospital in Atlanta will be
used in the coming days to house and treat a patient infected with
Ebola, the virus that has killed more than 700 people in a recent
outbreak in West Africa.
Announcing the pending transfer of the
patient Thursday, Emory, which like the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention is based in Atlanta, issued a statement saying it will use
"a specially built isolation unit set up in collaboration with the CDC
to treat patients who are exposed to certain serious infectious
diseases."
The unit is one of four such facilities in America,
Emory said, describing it as being "physically separate from other
patient areas."
Officials at Emory University Hospital say they don't know when the patient will arrive.
They
also didn't give any details about the patient — but the person being
treated could be an American who was infected with Ebola while working
in Africa, according to a that cites an anonymous source as saying a charter plane has been sent from Georgia to retrieve two patients.
As NPR reported this week,
are among three Americans who contracted the disease while working with
the charity Samaritan's Purse. CNN says at least one of the two (the
third patient has died) could be taken to the Emory facility.
Health experts are calling this Ebola outbreak large, complex, and difficult — and it still hasn't slowed down.
"In only four days, the total number of cases has risen by 122, or about 10 percent," NPR's global development blog said of the Ebola outbreak today.
On
Thursday, the CDC issued an advisory against non-essential travel to
Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, urging Americans to avoid potential
exposure to the disease in West Africa.
