American Doctor Treating Ebola Now Infected With The Ebola Virus

An American doctor trying to quell the Ebola outbreak in Liberia is now infected with the virus, the organization for which he works said.

Dr. Kent Brantly is now hospitalized and undergoing treatment at an isolation center, the Christian humanitarian group Samaritan's Purse said.

The 33-year-old doctor had been treating Ebola patients and started feeling ill, Samaritan's Purse 's Ebola Consolidated Case Management Center in Monrovia, Liberia spokeswoman Melissa Strickland said. Once he started noticing the symptoms last week, Brantly isolated himself.

His Ebola infection was confirmed Saturday.

Officials believe that the Ebola outbreak has taken such a strong hold in West Africa due to the proximity of the jungle -- where the virus originated -- to Conakry, Guinea, which has a population of 2 million.

Because symptoms don't immediately appear, the virus can easily spread as people travel around the region. Once infected with the virus, many people die in an average of 10 days as the blood fails to clot and hemorrhaging occurs.

The disease isn't contagious until symptoms appear. Symptoms include fever, headache and fatigue. At that point, the Ebola virus is spread via bodily fluids.

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I hope he does recover. People do recover from this virus so there is a great chance of recovery. And for him to isolate himself so soon after he discovered he may have been infected is a sign of his true intention to truly safe lives and for that I hail him as a hero.