US doctor who survived Ebola donates blood to treat infected doctor

                                           Dr. Kent Brantly                                                                      Dr. Rick Sacra

Dr. Kent Brantly, the US doctor who survived Ebola has donated a unit of his blood to treat the third American aid worker Dr. Rick Sacra infected with the virus as doctors fight to save the patient’s life. Brantly flew to Nebraska last week to donate his blood to use to treat Dr. Rick Sacra. Sacra is a close friend of Brantly from their missionary work.

Brantly and fellow missionary Nancy Writebol were treated at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta last month. They both got an experiment therapy based on engineered antibodies called ZMapp, and Brantly also got a unit of blood from an Ebola survivor. "Dr. Brantly is now immune to that strain of Ebola," Franklin Graham the President and CEO of Samaritian’s Purs said.

Last week the World Health Organization endorsed the use of serum to treat a new victim, saying it was worth trying. The idea is that survivors have antibodies to the virus in their blood, and those antibodies can kick-start the immune system of another patient.