Ebola-infected American arrives in Atlanta
Digital Reporter
Sunday, August 3, 2014, 2:00 PM - As Ebola victim Dr. Kent Brantly walked into an Atlanta, Georgia, hospital, clad head-to-toe in a hazmat suit and escorted by a similarly dressed companion, health officials said the risk to the general public is low.
Brantly was flown into the United States after contracting the disease in West Africa, where some 700 people have died from it so far.
In footage in the building above, you can see the kind of precautions that were taken. The doctor seems to move almost hesitantly, while his escort holds him by both hands.
The facility he was led into, Emory University hospital, is considered one of the most secure hospitals in the world, hosted by a city that is the home of the Centres for Disease Control (CDC).
In fact, Emory's infectious diseases unit was actually created to deal specifically with doctors who fell ill at the CDC. In 2005, patients with Secure Acute Respiratory Disease (SARS) were treated there.
Nevertheless, while the Associated Press reports people living near the hospital did not seem too concerned, CDC director Tom Frieden said he'd received around 100 calls from people questioning the decision to allow the sick doctor, and another infected aid worker expected to arrive in a few days, into the United States.
"I hope that our understandable fear of the unfamiliar does not trump our compassion when ill Americans return to the U.S. for care," said Frieden said.
It seems the doctors at Emory aren't taking any chances. According to the Associated Press, the isolation unit where the patients will be kept is all but airtight: Any air leaving the unit is scrubbed for germs, all testing is conducted inside the unit, and all doctors working within it don clean suits before entering, and go through strict decontamination.
There is presently no cure for Ebola, which kills up to 80 per cent of those it infects.
With files from the Associated Press.
FROM THE EXPERTS: Scott Sutherland tells you everything you need to know about Ebola.
