The United States was Ebola-free for a few short days before the news broke that Dr. Martin Salia was being flown to Nebraska from Sierra Leone. As it turns out, Salia is a citizen of Sierra Leone but lives in Maryland, was working as a general surgeon at Kissy United Methodist Hospital in the country's capital. Kissy is not an Ebola treatment unit but Salia has also apparently worked in at least three other facilities that are. It's still unclear when or how Salia came into contact with the deadly virus, but five other doctors in Sierra Leone have not only contracted the disease, but also were killed by it.
Salia started showing symptoms symptoms of the Ebola virus on Nov. 6 but he originally tested negative for the virus. He finally tested positive on Monday and while Salia was deemed well enough to travel, sources at Nebraska Medical Center say that he is more critically ill then perhaps the first two health care workers that were brought to the states late last summer for treatment. Nebraska Medical Center was actually the only facility in the states qualified to take Salia, as it has been reported that a few of the others, such as Atlanta's Emory are currently in the middle of 21-day monitoring periods.
While Salia isn't a citizen he is a permanent resident of Maryland. Do you agree with him being brought back to this country in the hopes of recovery? Blood plasma transfusion's from previously infected patients seems to be the real key to recovery, at least so far. Of the ten patients that have been treated in the states, the only one who hasn't recovered didn't receive a transfusion. Do you think that Salia's doctor's are going to attempt a transfusion in the hopes that it'll be the catalyst to changing his prognosis? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below!
