Nebraska Medical Center's Ebola patient discharged

Rick Sacra, MD, the American missionary who contracted Ebola and was transferred to The Nebraska Medical Center earlier this month, was released Ebola-free from the Omaha-based hospital's biocontainment unit Thursday.

Dr. Sacra contracted Ebola while working as a missionary physician treating patients in Liberia. While being treated for Ebola at Nebraska Medical Center, he received a research drug called TKM-Ebola and was also treated with plasma from Kent Brantly, MD, another American physician who beat Ebola, according to SIM, the organization Dr. Sacra was working for.

"We've been in constant contact with the CDC, the World Health Organization and a member of the White House medical staff," Angela Hewlett, MD, associate medical director of the biocontainment unit, said. "We have been sharing everything we've learned about caring for Dr. Sacra and we will continue to do so as we have the opportunity to examine all of the data related to his treatment."

Dr. Sacra said he is thankful to everyone who cared for him through his fight with Ebola. "My care team was excellent," Dr. Sacra said. "Everyone made me feel so welcome that I am now an official lifetime Huskers fan."

Dr. Sacra, Dr. Brantly and Nancy Writebol, all Americans who overcame Ebola, are part of the few who beat the disease: Since the start of the outbreak in West Africa through Sept. 21, Ebola has claimed more than 2,900 lives, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

There is still one American, who has not been named, being treated for Ebola at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta. The patient was admitted Sept. 9.

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