Ebola Patient Dr. Kent Brantly to Be Released From Hospital

BREAKING:

An American doctor who contracted the Ebola virus while working in West Africa will be released from an Atlanta hospital on Thursday, officials said. Dr. Kent Brantly worked with Christian aid organization Samaritan's Purse in Liberia treating patients with the deadly virus when he fell ill. He and Nancy Writebol, an aid worker who also contracted Ebola while doing missionary work in Liberia, received experimental treatment before being flown to an isolation unit in Emory University Hospital in Atlanta in early August.

Franklin Graham, president of Samaritan's Purse, said Thursday that he had 'marveled at Dr. Brantly's courageous spirit as he has fought this horrible virus' and thanked staff at the hospital. On Friday, Brantly released a statement asking that people 'continue to pray for and bring attention to those suffering in the ongoing Ebola crisis in West Africa.' More than 1,300 people have died from the disease in the region, according to the World Health Organization, which has declared the Ebola epidemic a global health emergency.

IN-DEPTH - F. Brinley Bruton

First published August 21 2014, 2:10 AM