Ashoka Mukpo, a freelance video journalist, is loaded into an ambulance after arriving in Omaha. Mukpo, who contracted Ebola while working in Liberia, was taken to Nebraska Medical Center for treatment.(Photo: James R. Burnett, Omaha World-Herald, via AP)
Ebola survivor Kent Brantly has donated blood to a fellow patient for the second time. This time, Brantly, a physician, donated blood to an NBC cameraman who also contracted the virus while working in Liberia.
Although there's no proven therapy or vaccine for Ebola, doctors hope that blood transfusions from survivors will provide current patients with antibodies that will help their immune systems fight off the virus.
The camerman, Ashoka Mukpo, is being treated at a specialized biocontainment unit at the Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha. That's the same hospital that treated physician Richard Sacra, who also received a blood transfusion from Brantly. Both men worked in a hospital in Monrovia, the capital of Liberia, where they contracted the virus.
Brantly received a blood transfusion from a teenage Ebola survivor before he left Liberia to be evacuated to Emory University Hospital in Atlanta, where he and missionary Nancy Writebol were treated.
Mukpo is also receiving an experimental drug called brincidofovir, an antiviral made by North Carolina-based Chimerix that has not yet been tested in animals against Ebola, but which has shown promise in test tube studies.
Thomas Duncan, the Liberian citizen who was hospitalized for Ebola after arriving in the USA, is also receiving brincidofovir.
Brantly has been outspoken on behalf of the victims of Ebola and the need to help the countries hardest hit by the virus — Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia. More than 3,400 people in those countries have died, according to the World Health Organization.
The World Bank Group reported Wednesday that the Ebola outbreak could cost the world $32.6 billion by the end of 2015, if the outbreak spreads to other countries in Africa with larger economies.
"The international community must find ways to get past logistical roadblocks and bring in more doctors and trained medical staff, more hospital beds and more health and development support to help stop Ebola in its tracks," said Jim Yong Kim, president of the World Bank Group.
Doctors are charting new territory in trying unproven therapies for Ebola. It was a stroke of luck that Brantly's blood type has matched that of two other patients, doctors say.
"It's not a likely scenario that he would again have the same blood type," said Angela Hewlett, associate medical director of the biocontainment unit at the Nebraska Medical Center, in a statement. "We are incredibly grateful that Dr. Brantly would take the time to do this, not once, but twice."
The World Health Organization has said that blood transfusions hold promise for helping fight the disease.
Last month, Sacra also received an experimental drug called TKM Ebola, along with supportive care, such as careful monitoring of his blood pressure and hydration. It's still not known if it was the transfusion, the experimental drug, the supportive care or a combination of all three that helped Sacra recover. TKM-Ebola blocks the ability of Ebola to reproduce.
Brantly and Writebol received a different experimental drug, called ZMapp, which contains a cocktail of man-made antibodies against Ebola. Supplies of that drug, which takes months to make, are now exhausted.
Mukpo's doctors said they considered different options for him.
"After looking at the data on this drug, collaborating with the CDC and FDA and speaking with the patient and his family, we decided this was currently our best option for treatment," said Phil Smith, medical director of the Omaha biocontainment unit, in a statement. "Every patient is somewhat different, and we believe brincidofovir is the best choice."
Doctors are looking at other options for treatment, as well.
Mukpo's father, physician Mitchell Levy, said his son still has nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. "These symptoms are exactly what's to be expected at this stage of the disease," Levy said in a statement. "We're so happy he was able to get here in such a timely manner to give him his best possible chance of recovery."
The Omaha hospital is gaining experience in treating Ebola patients, doctors said. For example, the hospital has moved its laboratory into the same unit where patients are treated, so their blood can be tested quickly.
"Having the lab inside the unit has been key," said Shelly Schwedhelm, director of the emergency department, trauma and emergency preparedness at the Nebraska Medical Center, in a statement. "The staff is upbeat and the mood of the entire team treating Mr. Muckpo is extremely positive."
Kent Brantly, left, works at an Ebola isolation ward at a mission hospital outside Monrovia, Liberia. Brantly had contracted Ebola but is virus-free after treatment in Atlanta.(Photo: Samaritan's Purse via Getty Images)
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