Second ebola patient to be treated in Omaha

Oct. 6, 2014, 9:13 a.m. ·

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The University of Nebraska Medical Center will treat a second patient infected with the Ebola virus. (Photo courtesy mpburrows/Flickr)

American photojournalist Ashoka Mukpo will be the second patient to be treated in Nebraska for the Ebola virus.

Mukpo was transported on a specially-equipped plane that landed at Eppley Airfield in Omaha this morning. He was then taken to a biocontainment facility at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. Mukpo contracted the virus while working in Liberia as a videographer for NBC.

When it comes to finding a place to care for patients like Mukpo, options are limited.

"There are only four centers in the country that have the type of biocontainment facility in place to treat these patients at the highest level of expertise and containment," said Dr. Brad Britigan, dean of the UNMC College of Medicine.

In September, the Nebraska Medical Center successfully treated Dr. Rick Sacra who contracted the virus while working as a missionary in Africa.

Britigan told NET News Sacra received an experimental drug as well as "convalescent serum therapy." He could not say what treatments will be given to Mukpo.

"Once Mr. Mukpo is here he will be evaluated and the treatment options available to him will be discussed with him," Britigan said.

Britigan said Mukpo will be treated by doctors and nurses who volunteer to work in the hospital's biocontainment facility. He said he believes Mukpo will be welcomed by both hospital workers and the community.

"The overwhelming communication from staff and the community has been overwhelmingly positive," Britigan said. "There are always going to be some individuals in the community who have some concerns. But I think the staff and the community as a whole are very comfortable with the safety precautions that are in place here and don't feel either themselves or the patients who are being cared for here are at any significant risk."

Mukpo is the fifth American to return United States for treatment since the start of the latest Ebola outbreak, which the World Health Organization estimates has killed more than 3,400 people.