contracted the ebola virus wall street patients we're faithful he has recovered and is well enough to offer his tv can sigh as the provider and a patient. dr. brantly is joined today by his wife and we welcome you here also. and also of note teeeighteen is a survivor of sierra leone brutal civil war and a program richer for the relief foundation in sierra leone. he monitors all relief foundation projects include the the ebola awareness project in their rural western district.

and again i apologize for the long period but people are interested in what is happening with ebola and you do bring a very unique perspective. you contract did ebola and alive and well today. so please proceed as you so desire. >> mr. chairman, chairman harkin and a steam to senators i am grateful for the opportunity to testify before you today about the unprecedented ebola outbreak booker in west africa that has already claimed thousands of lives that threatens to kill tens of thousands more are lost take the opportunity to thank each and every one of the ride no they people who help

to play of will to break and be home when i was so sick. thank you. on october 16 i moved to liberia with my family to serve as of medical missionary at the hess -- hospital and worked as a physician in to support the of adequate health care system and a country that is still struggling from a brutal civil war. we learned there were cases of ebola in the region began to prepare our staff and facilities to be ready to care for patients of the safest way possible should that need arise. three months later our hospital had the only treatment unit and allows only one of two to treat the first individuals in that area. bled to the 11th through july 20th the number of cases continue to grow at

the incredible rate as the disease would spiral out of control it is clear we were not equipped to fight to effectively on are on a began to call for more international assistance but it fell on deaf ears. as the ebola virus consumed my patients would witness the for this disease did upon the victims that paid in humiliation, irrational fear and superstition throughout the communities and the violence and unrest that threatens the entire nation's on july 23rd i fell ill in three days later i learned i tested positive i came to understand firsthand what my patients had suffered was isolated and ensure privacy my family can. even though i do most of my caregivers i concede nothing

of their eyes through the protective goggles the humiliation of losing control bodily functions and vomiting blood aside of internal bleeding that could have led to my death. ungrateful to the team that worked tirelessly to keep me alive and despite a severe lack of medical resources they were courageous i was evacuated to every rye was one of the few to recover from ebola as a survivor is natalie my privilege but a duty to speak out to those of west africa who have unspeakable devastation because of this horrific disease. this unprecedented outbreak received very little notice of the international community and tell nancy and i became infected but since that time there was intense media attention and

increased awareness the response today however has been sluggish and unacceptable out of step with the scope and size of the problem that is now before us the united states government has been following the events since that time and only now parisienne commitment i had the privilege and honor to meet with president obama this morning to discuss his commitment more military of a resources to fight this epidemic is also requesting increased funding for the cdc. i think can for entering into the battle and a larger way now it is imperative that these words are backed up by immediate action. to control the outbreak to stabilize the west africans and americans may need the

treatment units the surge of health care workers cover regional command and control and we needed to really also 400,000 home treatment kits that have been committed to be sent without delay. no time to waste to care for the thousands of people that epidemiologists predict will fall victim in the next few weeks u.s. military must establish and maintain the air bridge to develop personnel and supplies to bring in more resources in the future we cannot turn the tide of this disease without large cargo loads of equipment i am grateful to the president to move send those test kits to the region but those are only helpful if we deploy all available mobile laboratories and increase

funding as quickly as possible the of laboratory we used in patients was 45 minutes away from the hospital and inadequately staffed the turnaround time was a new mayor for 12 for 36 hours after the blood was drawn of the patient is not infected with the virus that could be of life threatening to lay kids and not effective as we have the facility in staffing to use them as a first tv to ever received the experimental drug i am a strong advocate for cdc and nih as a research vaccines and drugs that we just heard about that can give patients hope for recovery i deeply grateful even before this outbreak dedicated their

lives to combat ebola but we cannot wait for i magic bullet it is beyond anything we have seen before and it is time to think outside the box. realize home health care interventions can be controversial however reid no mandate positive people stay at home and hide after they become infected because of fear and superstition the families will abandon them or care for them that would result in the infection of the caregiver. . .

there are not enough beds in the treatment units right now and people are choosing to suffer and die at home. the least we can do is to give their caregivers the information and resources they need to protect themselves from this deadly virus. all of these interventions that are needed to stop this outbreak requires significant funding and budgets must be adjusted appropriately. this is not simply a matter of providing military and eight. it is very much a national -- providing humanitarian aid. it is very much a national

security concern. was fearful and he shared the story of how he contracted the disease. he said i remember who i got this infection from. he said that he was sick at home and when he began vomiting blood, everyone around him lead. but his wife was determined to get into the hot will. since no one else was around to help him, he went to this man's house and help to carry him out of the house and put him into a taxi. on the way to the hospital man died. if someone had come alongside him and given him a little bit of education and provided him with the personal women that he needed the family would still have their father and son and brother in the world still might have this good samaritan. unfortunately he fell victim to

ebola and died. many is the analogy to describe this outbreak and it is a fire straight from the pit of hell. we cannot fool ourselves from thinking that the vast ocean will protect us from the flames of this summit. instead, we must move quickly and immediately to deliver the promises that have been made and to be open to practical innovative interventions. this is the only way to keep nations from being reduced to ashes and thank you very much, mr. chairman. >> thank you, doctor. >> thank you for your current. >> thank you for being here and being an example. >> mr. charles, welcome. and please proceed.

>> thank you very much. chairman harkin, honorable senators, and fellow guests of this committee. thank you for the opportunity to allow me to come from west africa to testify in front of you today. i am married and a father of two children, two girls, nine months and 10 years. [inaudible] i would like to share with you what my country is going through on a daily basis of the current ebola outbreak. unlike the civil war, it is

affecting the entire population. in the civil war it was at the time part of the population was afraid of the attack. so the general atmosphere in my country in the west african region are afraid of fear. the biggest crisis that we have ever seen, bigger than even the civil war. and i was able to survive the war. but i fear that this is going to be worse than the war. this foundation based in new jersey supports the rebuilding in sierra leone and provides relief and other supports for war-torn countries like sierra leone. the mission supports families

and individuals affected by disaster, war, adverse socioeconomic conditions and free delivery of health care, food and other programs, empowering communities to become self-sufficient. the foundation of which i am placed with has participated with us in sierra leone. and this includes justice and advanced good governance and achieve human rights and at the spoke some, we have privileges

to show you what is going on on the ground. this affects liberia and guinea and other countries as well. and since the outbreak we have a response project in this district and we have worked with the minister of health and sanitation. small budgets and groups are able to make impacts at the lowest level in the community and they understand the reality on the ground. as part of this project we have been walking with a number of those in our district with about

219,000 people including what we can do to kill the virus. and so in addition, we have collaboration in the other regions of the country as well a great number of opportunities has made the situation very scary. and each day the situation has become worse and the problem of ebola can only be made worse and so when i was about to leave my 10-year-old daughter, she said dad, are you going to leave us in this country and go to

america where there is no ebola? and i stared at her and i said, as i call her, i am going for your family and your future. and i will be back in two weeks and she said, are you sure? because every day flights have been canceled and there are only two flights going to sierra leone and liberia and similarly my wife said the money that you use when you travel will not be enough this time around because the price of commodities has tripled.

i'm so of what i'm trying to say in essence is that the situation is getting very difficult every day and we have been faced with the current outbreak challenge. and this is getting very heavy on the number of people. my biggest fear is that the health system is not functional. when you go to a doctor, even when they are there, they deny that there might be infections or they are afraid and they are not sure what will happen with the patients in the upcoming weeks. ebola has increased, giving people who do not have a chance difficulties. we need equality.

and we are not able to coordinate effectively the ebola response. people are losing confidence everyday and the ebola crisis has whited every day which have not been prepared to manage such a difficult situation and we have in some towns very few numbers of deaths. and they have the capacity to house a hundred deaths and we only have a few guests at a time. and this keeps dropping fast everyday because we don't have the money or resources that we

need to take care of. in a country like this, we have no idea [inaudible] a country with a high population and ebola is decreasing that every day and we are able to make donations to the minister of social welfare and support this minister of social welfare. we are also very careful that these orphan children will be stigmatized and at the same time, it is a very dire situation. and people do not have the free will to bury their loved ones any more. and this includes compassion, care, and emotional love and you know that you have a social

support around you is very important. flights have been canceled, the economic situation has been part of the result that is troubling. not justice but poverty and hunger and lack of medical possibilities. families go hungry when individuals die or get sick or lose their jobs and with the support of the united states, the international community, we believe will put ebola out. however, our progress will have been lost, especially when already things went badly before

the upgrade. [inaudible] and so we will need to help those in sierra leone so that we can sell for live because we cannot continue to rely on national support. we have had their report that the doctor has spoke about and she gave a number of points talking specifically about liberia. and probably even worse in the numbers each day of infected

people is definitely lesser than what is really happening underground and this includes the support that we have currently with what we have. lastly, i want to thank this house for listening to me and we look forward to the continued support of the united states in sierra leone. thank you very much for your attention and the privilege you have given to me. thank you. >> thank you, mr. charles. it is always important to put a human face on matters like this and i think people read about it

and you get the numbers and you see that it is horrible, but again, you have to understand the human impact and what this is doing to families in your country. in liberia and other countries as well. and the nature that i am now beginning to understand of how if we don't get it controlled soon, it is going to spiral out of control and it will have a devastating effects that mr. charles is talking about. the whole economy will start grinding to a halt. doctor brantley, i am sure that i can speak for many around the world when i say thank you. thank you for being such an example for all of us on how to serve others. we regularly thank our soldiers

were marching into harms way. let me say that this is no different. many runs the risk of helping those standing in the path of this terrible disease. so i want to include you and others like you in this. you definitely do us proud. very proud. and i just, i have so many questions, but i know that we are running out of time. but i guess, doctor, what i would probably ask you first is, with all the no and you have been there with your family and you know what the situation is like, what is the most important thing that we can do now and what is the most important response that we have now and if

you are in charge and you had a magic wand, what would you do with it the maximum one of the most important points is in your question. we have to do it now. this has been in the eye of the government for months and we can't afford to wait months or even weeks to take action and put people on the ground with the bridges and pathways to begin going out in the community is and educating caregivers. and it's not that were trying to keep people at home, but we need to increase the capacity to care for them and that means not only creating more beds, by having a staff to care for them in those beds and putting them in a bed may keep them from getting a disease that does nothing to improve their chances of survival and must that they are receiving good polity support of terror. so we need more capacity for the

treatment units and we must have the staff for those units as well. and we need to start educating people right now in their communities about how to safely care for their family members who are dying from ebola and are ashamed or scared of their own situations. >> you must have -- you have to have a valuable perspective on liberian culture having been there. you know, we talk about a lot of people. some people are culturally sensitive, but they don't understand the situation. could people actually become more afraid of the workers if they are not adequate trained and equipped? >> i think that that is a very real possibility, mr. chairman. i think if we think about the

situation in the united states tenures at our own civil war, there are still a lot of tensions and in liberia there are a lot of tensions between people groups and society in general and there is a sense of distrust of government and distrust of authority and distrust of foreigners, so yes, people will be resisted to help. but i think because of the devastation of this outbreak, even those people that have been resistant to help are starting to see the need for some assistance, and i think that's why it is important that we just don't march in there with our military and to take over, but we partner with the ngos and the administrative health of liberia so that it is a partnership and we are using people that are survivors fare. there are more and more survivors every day in places where they can get good

supportive care. those survivors are the ones i can go out and what you refer to culturally in a culturally appropriate way, educate the communities and distribute the personal protective equipment to protect the home care providers and i think that that is, that is an important part of the strategy. but again, it has to start now in a matter of days. just less than two months ago from when i started it feels thick, the death toll has tripled. it takes two months to get a response up and going, if we only maintain that rate of growth, we are looking at now since and tens of thousands in nine months down the road, hundreds of thousands of not only cases of ebola but death. and we just can't afford that. >> that is my hope that our military airlift capability will start moving personnel over

there. >> doctor brantley, let me thank you both. thank you for your work and for bringing awareness here. doctor kent brantly, thank you for being a good samaritan and we greatly admire what you have done. you are a survivor of ebola. is that like cancer, is in remission or are you cured? >> thank you, senator. i am cured from ebola. >> so it is gone from you? >> yes. one person survived and they recover, they are not a carrier of the virus, they are not a, you know, the doctor at emory university said they would pose no public health risk. so there is no risk to the public from a survivor. there's a lot of stigma attached to being a survivor of ebola, --

>> can a ebola survivor become infected with dan? or are you immune then from ebola to . >> in theory and i think in practice i am immune to the strain of ebola that i was infected with it. there are five different strains of it. so if i went to the dominican -- the democratic republic of congo, he may not be immune to the strain that is causing the outbreak there. >> you talked about and you treated a lot of patience. would you say that about half the patients who are infected die, or is it higher or lower than that a maximum unfortunately senator, in my experience, we did not have a 50% mortality rate or survival rate in our facility. we saw patients early on they were usually showing a very late in the course and in a month and a half that i was treating

patients, we had one survivor. >> from the time you discovered an infection until death, how long is that typically? it varies greatly depending on how early the person has care. we had a person that died in a matter of hours from the time they presented to others that were under our care for a matter of days, four or five or six days before he passed away but it's not months? >> no, the jet illnesses generally a two-week course. in either the person has died or they are on the road to recovery iraq which is why there is such concern because there is so explosive that a move so rapidly. is that right enact. >> i hear you talking about lots of people at home sick for a variety reasons. we don't know about them. we have heard the officials statistics say that less than 5000 infections and felt like there might be many more? >> i think that that is very accurate, sir. as many of the witnesses have

said, numbers are based on the cases we have tested and identified and there are many more at home as well. >> so there are many more in what you're saying is that the course of the disease might run a couple of weeks and you're either dead or a survivor after that time in your experience although one died and others, they say, the officials statistics say that the case doubles and so you don't have to do much math to see that the numbers are, as you say, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands go to we don't get control. and we have the benefit of the caregivers that is to keep the infection from spreading. and so it's sort of a hospice

from the infected person would ebola. >> i think that that is a fair way to look at it. as he said, we cannot carry out complicated interventions in the home, but you can give people world hydration solutions or tylenol to help with their fever and pain. but the most important part of that is the part that offers protection to the caregiver. because without that, we are not stopping transmission and that is what has to happen to control this epidemic. to stop the transmission of this disease area. >> you took a great risk in going there. and it is obvious from the testimony of mr. charles and others that we will need thousands of people in addition to the soldiers that are going. what would you say to others and people like yourself, we have a tradition in this country of

doctors without borders. what would you say to americans that are seen as an trying to decide whether to go to west africa to help control this disease? >> thank you, mr. senator. this is a topic very dear to my heart. i think the international presence of doctors without borders says that very well in a recent article, she says that comparing ebola to a fire, this is not the time to run away, this is the time to put on our protective gear and run into the burning building. physicians and health care professionals, even if it is just symbolic, they have taken an oath. many institutions take the hippocratic oath and that oath is to the service of mankind.

and i think if we can help people overcome this fear of facing a deadly disease and remember that this is not just a disease that these are people that need help and these are societies that are collapsing because of the weight of this burden, we just need people to go help. >> well, this was -- oh, i'm sorry, senator to . >> thank you, mr. chairman. doctor kent brantly, mr. charles, thank you for being here. mr. charles, when you go back and see her daughters, i hope that you share with them that the purpose of this committee

should try to make sure that we can process enough to make sure that we can provide what is needed from a standpoint of the resources. there are pieces of government responsibility to get them there and to train and equip and we have to make sure that we have the resources, and what you have shared with us, both of you, it is invaluable from a standpoint of how we look at it and, as both senators said, to see the human face on the issue. it's absolutely crucial to those of us that sit on this committee and in this institution and ask taxpayers to fund things from people that they will never meet. but i do have a couple of questions. doctor brantley, are you convinced that z-mapp played a role in your care?

>> thank you, senator. my opinion -- >> i.t. program from a standpoint of supportive care -- >> i was receiving the best care that they can afford to give me in liberia. my own opinion is that the z-mapp, i believe, have a beneficial effect in my treatment. but as doctor anthony fauci said, this is an experimental drug that my story is an anecdote and while very convincing as one, it is just one. they really were wires more extensive testing an experimental drugs to prove whether it is beneficial on a large scale. and i'm very thankful for it the gentleman and all the

individuals because i think it was helpful to me and i think it will be helpful in future ebola outbreaks. >> let me say when the chairman referred to he was concerned about this, i think that we have are ready spiraled and i think that we are in that spiral right now. and i think had we had more time , we would understand that we are probably, january at the earliest, for therapy. that is without extensive clinical trials come as you can imagine. the january of the first quarter with potentially some vaccine product. and you know if we are talking about a five-month clinical trial process, we have accelerated it greatly and we are going to break every failsafe that exists at the fda, just like they did in the

decision to administer z-mapp to you. because it's under jurisdiction of this committee, we want to understand that we are going to sort of re-create this because this is an extraordinary circumstance and i guess i am asking for your medical opinion as somebody that knows the folks that are being affected. and if we choose to go before everything with some type of therapeutic response, is that the best course for us to follow or should we be prudent knowing that we know a little bit more about the turkey? >> i think that who came out with a statement several weeks ago saying they believe it is ethical to use experimental

drugs and circumstances like this. and i would agree with them that if we know, my kids didn't even know if it would be harmful or not. i think you're going to start giving it to people who do not have the background to be able to give, to relieve give understood and conformed consent, it's important that we know that what we are giving them if safe and potentially beneficial. and i think that those types of drugs and especially vaccines, the other panel has spoken out better than i can. but it would have a role if we don't have this under control by january. >> talking about every infected

individuals somewhere between five and 20 additional individuals, the multiples are huge. and i think i have heard both of you say that when we look at sierra leone, in the last 21 days, do you think that those are woefully understating the size of the problem? did i hear both of you correctly? >> yes, senator. >> okay. >> may i just speak a moment on that. i think those numbers may be underestimated for sure, but what i think is what you're saying is a representation of how quickly things are growing as compared to the numbers that are growing now and those experimental drugs don't have

anything to do with the transmission and that is why we need to intervene in the communities to disrupt the transmission of this disease. >> when the cdc said that now, now it's like tomorrow. i'm not sure that we have this turnaround out of government. facing the reality of what is in front of us is also important. and so what are the possibilities of using social media as our tool in west africa and can that be effective reign. >> especially among young people in the population and those that

also have access to other forms, and the costs are expensive compared to what i can access on my cell phone compared to what i can access in sierra leone on a monthly basis. and so it is very expensive and so definitely has a lot of information that can be missed reading also. and a lot of this information is communicated through what has happened. >> i agree. i think even up until this point using social media and radio and print media to reach the

population, there's a catchy tune about it on the radio reminding people that it is real and they need to protect themselves and their emily's as to how the disease is spread and i think it is a very important means of reaching people. >> i want to thank both of you. whenever you have a tragedy somewhere in the world, they are certainly there and they are part of the story and i think a lot of those in north carolina and the commitment, not to say we don't have a lot of good ngos in the world that respond, but they are consistently there and for that we are very grateful and i thank you both. >> thank you. >> i had a point and first,

thank you to both of you. and i want to make sure i understand something you said. you said that you became -- you begin to treat patients on june 11 and became ill on july 20? >> july 23. >> about how many patients did you treat? >> i believe during that time we had about 25 or 50 patients come through her unit and not everyone of those was positive for ebola, but many of those that were negative died within being days within the severe illness. >> so 45 or 50, all of them died? >> there were some that tested negative and we discharge them from the unit. >> so of those 45 or 50, some had ebola. >> i can't remember the numbers exactly, but i but i would say

probably 25 had ebola and probably 10 or 12 of them were tested negative and discharged and that could leave another five or so other then ebola that died because of the severity of the illness. >> he became ill on july 23 and he said something about a two-week course, do you mean that within two weeks you know whether you are going to recover enact or die if you have ebola? >> in general, most people with ebola, they usually, if they die from it, they died between days 110, but it can be 14 or 16 day illness. so you can't say you're out of the woods. that's not the case. >> do you have become infected

and you don't infect others until you have symptoms? >> that is correct. >> there's a period of time of about two weeks or a week or two when you can impact other people, plus the time after you die, there is that during a time? >> correct yankee contract the virus and you have a two to 21 they window before you can become symptomatic and then once you become symptomatic, you are illness may run from three days where you die after three days or you may be sick for two weeks. in my case, i was sick for almost four weeks before the cdc decided that my test or negative enough consecutive times that they could discharge me from the hospital. >> so people are infectious during their illness and usually that is less than two or three weeks? >> what is really different

about this epidemic is how fast it moves. is that right? >> the virus moves quickly. it kills quickly. and locked in like doctor anthony fauci and doctor beth bell talked about. it's not like the flu virus can get by sitting near someone with it. but it kills its victims quickly. >> within that two-week period of infections, one might infect five to 20 other people and they have an incubation period of two to 21 days and they may have a two-week. lack of infection in which they might infect five to 20 more people so that happens very rapidly? >> yes, sir. >> thank you, mr. chairman. >> thank you. and again, thank you very much for being here and for your

patience and for sharing with us your personal stories. the obama administration is moving rapidly on this, present obama was down at the cdc. ourselves we are working here to rapidly respond and to support the president in this effort. i think the right time is of the essence. but it has to be done correctly rather than rushing in and doing things that may even make it worse. and certainly we need to get the equipment there and the personal protection here for home health care workers in these countries and we need to do a rapid series of educational programs in these countries so that the local populace begins to know what to

do and how to respond to not be afraid. and that needs to be done rapidly. i trust that there are ngos and you know that you are here and they can be very helpful on us, i believe. and they have been here for some times and have had good relations with these people in these countries. so as we do this rapidly, i hope that we will learn from and lean on and ask the help of the ngos that are in these countries. and we need to ask them for their help. >> i hope and trust, mr. charles, that your wife and your daughters are safe and that they hear any of this at all, i want them to be assured that you

will be back home and you will be saved. >> thank you very much. >> thank you, thank you doctor kent brantly for your great example. >> the record will remain open for 10 days or a thank you so much. we stand adjourned. [inaudible conversations]