bruce ribner, medical director of emory's infectious disease unit at the emory university hospital. also, pleased to introduce dr. kent brantley, a medical doctor who was serving with samaritans purse in liberia. is as follows, dr. ribner will make a brief statement. then dr. brantley will make a brief statement. we'll take no questions. after that, dr. ribner will take questions. we have moderated call-in line as well. dr. ribner. >> good morning and thank you for coming here today. i'm bruce ribner the medical director of the infectious disease unit at emory university hospital. sorry. i lead the team of doctors, nurses, laboratory technologyists, chaplins, and

bruce ribner, head of infectious diseases here at emery hospital. i lead the team of doctors, researchers, laboratory technology gists, chaplins and many others who have cared for dr. brantly and mrs. writeboll, two patients that were treated at emery university hospital for ebola virus disease. today i'm pleased to announce that dr. brandtly is being discharge from the hospital. after a rig course course of treatment, dr. brantly has recovered from the ebola virus infection, that he can return to his family, his community and to his life without public health concerns. the second patient, mrs. writeboll but discharged this past tuesday august 19. the medical staff here at emery is confident that the discharge from the hospital of both of these patients poses no public health threat. the hospital is respecting mrs. writeboll's which weres for prooifz si at that time. so we will not be making any further comments about her clinical course. we are tremendously pleased with dr. brantly and mrs. writeboll's recovery in our hospital. all of us who have w

bruce ribner, the head of the disease unit at emory university hospital. taking some questions. you can imagine there are a lot of questions in the room there as dr. kent brantley is being released from the hospital in atlanta three weeks after entering there, very, very sick. walking under his own power. it does merit pointing that out. want to bring back in our colleague dr. sanjay gupta who we should mention is on staff at emory. it's surprising he is able to leave. i think the two questions, are how do we know? how do we know that dr. kent brantley and dr. nancy writebol are not going to be sick or not going to show signs of sickness later on, what is their life going to be like? >> well, you know, with regard to the first part of that question, it sounds like they made this decision in conjunction with guidance from the centers for disease control and prevention which has had a lot of experience with ebola in other parts of the world. again not in the united states. this has never happened before in the united states. i keep making that point. what you're witnessing here is

bruce ribner, one of the leading physicians overseeing his care.e said there was no question bringing the patients to emory. they were ready for them. why take the risk at all? >> i think you have you have been in that part of the world and know the level of care that can be delivered. these are americans who went over there to supply humanitarian mission of medical care for these individuals and our feeling is they deserve the best medical care to try to resolve this infection they can get. >> reporter: by early saturday afternoon, brantley was transferred from his isolation on the plane to an ambulance on the tarmac. a caravan took to the streets of atlanta where his every move was tracked by air and ground. awaiting him at the hospital, a specially outfitted containment unit. one of only several in the world. >> what is the message for the general public that are concerned with having an american with the ebola virus in their backyard? >> this is not a virus. this is a patient. this is a neighbor, a parent, a child, a spouse, a sibling. this is

bruce ribner showed me the protective suit he and the other staff would have to wear every time theyaw brantly. today, a completely different picture. in fact, it wasn't so much what we heard as what we saw. brantly, who was in isolation a day before, now holding hands with his wife amber. and hugging everyone of the 26-member team that he credits with saving his life. brantly moved to africa last fall with his family for a medical mission. it had nothing to do with ebola. that changed in the spring. we were in west africa as the outbreak began to heat up. >> these are tough conditions. >> brantly made the decision to fly his family home to the united states on july 20th. and then just three days later -- >> i woke up feeling under the weather. and then my life took an unexpected turn. as i was diagnosed with ebola virus disease. >> there is no way to know why he's done so well. a lot of attention was due to a story that we first reported about an experimental drug zmapp. the first of three doses given to brantly as he lay near death in liberia. never before had it been given to a hu

i talked to bruce ribner and asked him about it. >> people in atlanta are concerned.now the risk is small, but it would be even smaller if these patients did not come here. if you don't have anything magical to provide, why take the risk at all? >> i think you've been in that part of the world, and you know the level of care that can be delivered. these are americans who went over there to supply a humanitarian mission of medical care for these individuals, and our feeling is that they deserve the best medical care to try and resolve this infection, that they can get. most of the medical care consists of supportive care, and our sense is, based on speaking to providers in that part of the world, that given our training, given our knowledge, given our unit, we can supply the supportive care much better than can be supplied in their current environment. >> part of that best care involves a pretty non-descript room. you're looking at it there. this is the isolation area, physically separated from other patient areas. you can't tell by looking at these pictures, but it ha

bruce ribner heads emory's infectious disease unit and will help treat both patients. >> we feel we have the environment and expertise to offer them the maximum opportunity for recovery from these infections. >> reporter: bruce johnson is president of the group that sponsored writebol's missions. >> obviously, this virus has taken a lot out of them. they're very weak but responsive, being able to get up, take care of their needs, and are conversing with loved ones, with their doctors. so that's really encouraging. >> reporter: once in the united states, dr. brantly and writebol will be put in this isolation unit at emory, separated from other buildings. visitors must stand behind glass windows and use an intercom system to communicate. c.d.c. director dr. tom frieden said hospitals in the united states have the resources to contain the virus. >> any isolation unit in the u.s. can care for an ebola patient safely. what you do need, is a meticulous attention to detail. >> reporter: and what is that meticulous attention to detail? >> that means full precautions. it means careful disposal of

bruce ribner believes they deserve the right to come home and have the best access to care. really they don't have a great chance of survival right now, there's a 60% fatality rate with the west african outbreak and no standard treatment or vaccination. they have to asupply supportive care, help the kidneys that might be shutting down or liver that might be shutting down function. they keep the patient on a ventilator to help the patient breathe. they are trying to help the patient's body survive long enough to be able to fight off this very deadly blood borne virus. >> which of the two missionaries is on the flight now? >> reporter: we got a notification this afternoon from samaritans first, the charity that both belong to that it was nancy may be the first one coming. she is the one who received this experimental blood treatment from a boy who had been treated you about dr. brantly and recovered from ebola. we haven't had any word what they plan to do here but they are talking to the cdc and national institutes of health and fda about possibly using an experimental treatme

bruce ribner of emory said there was no cause for alarm among the public. >> from the time air ambulanceives in metropolitan atlanta area up to and including being hospitalized at emory university hospital we have taken every precaution that we know and our colleagues at the c.d.c know to ensure that there is no spread of this virus pathogen. >> woodruff: hari sreenivasan in our new york studios picks up the story from there. >> sreenivasan: to date, 729 people have died out of more than 1,300 documented or suspected infections. today, the world health organization said it would launch a $100 million plan to deploy more health workers to the region. it came one day after the c.d.c warned americans not to travel to the affected countries unless necessary. dr. tom frieden is the director of the c.d.c and he joins me now. first off, what can you tell people to assure them that this disease will not spread to atlanta or other parts of the united states as we bring these patients back? >> well, first off, it's really important to understand how ebola spreads and how it's spreading in africa.

bruce ribner, one of the leading physicians overseeing brantly's care.of bringing the two americans who contracted ebola to emory. they were ready for them. why the risk at all? >> you've been in that part of the world and know the level of care that can be delivered. these are americans who went over there to supply humanitarian mission of medical care for these individuals. and our feeling is that they deserve the best medical care to try and resolve this infection that they can get. >> reporter: by early saturday afternoon, brantly was transferred from his isolation onboard the plane to an ambulance. the caravan took to the streets, his every move was tracked by air and ground. awaiting him at the hospital, a especially outfitted containment unit. >> what message do you have for folks at home, general public, a concern of an american with ebola virus in their backyard? >> this is not a virus. this is a patient. this is one of our neighbors. this is a parent. this is a child. this is a spouse. this is a sibling. it's a sick person who needs our help. >

bruce ribner, asked him about. >> people in atlanta are concerned. the risk is small but it would be even smaller if these patients did not come here. if you don't have anything magical to provide, why take the risk at all? >> i think you've been in that part of the world, you know the level of care that can be delivered. these are americans who went over there to supply humanitarian mission of medical care for these individuals and our feeling is that they deserve the best medical care to try and resolve this infection that they can get. most of the medical care consists of supportive care and our sense is, based on speaking to providers in that part of the world, that given our training, given our knowledge, given our unit, we can supply that supportive care much better than can be supplied in their current environment. >> part of that best care involves a nondescript room. you're looking at it there. this is this isolation area that we've been talking about. it's physically separated from other patient areas. you can't tell by looking at these pic

bruce ribner showed me the protective suit he and others would have to wear every time they saw brantlyfact it wasn't so much what we heard as what we saw. brantly, who was in isolation just a day ago, now holding hands with his wife amber. and hugging every one of the 26-member team that he credits with saving his life. brantly had moved to africa last fall with his family for a two-year medical mission. it had nothing to do with ebola. but that all changed in the spring. we were in west africa as the outbreak began to heat up. brantly made the decision to fly his family home to the united states on july 20th. and then just three days later -- >> i woke up feeling under the weather. and then my life took an unexpected turn as i was diagnosed with the ebola virus disease. given to brantly as he lay near death in lie beberia. within an hour, brantly's doctors said he made a dramatic turn around. by the next morning, he was able to stand up on his own and take a shower. coincidence or not, doctors are still being cautious. >> and frankly, we do not know whether it helped him. >> brantly's

doctor bruce ribner, medical director of the hospital's infectious disease unit, touched on the bond his team developed with brantly. >> there was a very strong emotional as well as health care interaction that occurred and the hugging and handshaking was just a demonstration of the strong feelings that developed over that three week period of time. if the hugging transmit the message that we don't think he's contagious i think that would be accurate. >> woodruff: doctor ribner also said that 59-year-old nancy writebol, who was also being treated at emory for ebola, had been discharged earlier this week. at her request, her departure was not announced at that time. >> the medical staff here at emory is confident that the discharge from the hospital of both of these patients poses no public health threat. ebola virus is a new infection on this continent, but our colleagues across the ocean have been dealing with it for 40 years now and so there is strong epidemyologic evidence that once an individual has resolved ebola virus infection they are immune to that strain. recognizing that t

bruce ribner leads the medical teams trying to save both of their lives. >> they can have kidney failure, lung failure, breathing problems. our job is to keep them alive until such time as their body defenses can take care of their own. >> reporter: before they left liberia, brantly and writebol received a drug harvested from lab mice. >> it was the decision of the doctors and kent and nancy whether or not it would be administered. one of the scientists who helped develop zmapp says human trials are being developed for 2016. right now there's a shortage. >> let's check in now with dr. anthony fauci. doctor good morning. >> good morning. >> tell us how effective this experimental serum is or may be? >> certainly we're getting reports from the physicians taking care of the patients that seemingly associated with the administration of antibodies there was significant improvement. the exact effect of the intervention versus the norral company is difficult when you're dealing with a simg. or two patients. certainly there was good effect. >> what other options are there? >> right now the optio

bruce ribner leads the team charged with saving brantly's life.e an exclusive look at the suit he and his team have to wear each time they enter the room. >> this is the mask with the air purifying system. covered from head to toe, his own vital signs will need to be checked twice a day. but he says this is an assignment he has trained for his entire life. >> they deserve the best medical care to try and resolve this infection that they can get. >> reporter: that care we're describing is taking place right behind me. this is the hospital. one thing about that jet real quick, chris. that's the only jet of its sort really in the world. after it dropped off dr. brantly, it turned around, got reoutfitted back to liberia and nancy writebol, the second patient expected here before noon tomorrow. >> we have two big things to unpack here, the actual treatment and the circumstances of safety. we know you have the doctor there. we'll get to that in a second. sanjay, the curiosity of what do you do, if there's no known cure for ebola, we know about these mys

bruce ribner, these were the reporters asking questions about brantly's release. they asked dr.an immunity created for brantly and writebol. he said there really is no danger to a relapse. he would anticipate an immunity to this virus. i want to ask both of you guys just from a business perspective and put on your business cap, if they can figure out this was a cure and then they can go ahead and work with big pharma to get this out and to western africa and distributed, obviously there is a humanitarian need and then there's a business need that's filled. >> you first, zeke. >> first of all, it's not going to happen in six months. the experimental agents they were working on were exactly based upon this theory of immunity that people got infected had antibodies that could neutralize the virus and protect you for life. between that observation and a drug or a by biologic that works or can be marketed, very long gap. remember, these experimental agents had never been tested in humans before, so that's a long path of discovery years and years, and it's not going to solve west afri

bruce ribner leads the medical team trying to save the lives of both victims. >> they can have kidney failure, they can have liver failure, lung failure, they can have bleeding problems. our job is keeping the patients alive until such time as their bodies' defenses can control the virus. >> reporter: according to his wife amber, brantly, tlaerks is in good spirits and continues to improve. before they left liberia brantly and writebol received zmapp, created with antibodies harvested by lab mice and mass produced using tobacco plants in kentucky. >> it was the decision of the doctors and kent and nancy whether or not it would be administered. >> reporter: one of the scientists who helped develop zmapp told us that human trials are due in 2015. one of the challenges is right now it's in very short supply so it's going to be very important to figure out a way to make sure there's enough of it to go around. charlie. >> let's check in now with dr. anthony fauci. doctor, good morning. >> good morning. >> tell us how effective this experimental serum is or may be. >> well certainly the rep

i'm bruce ribner, the medical direct aror of the infectious university of emory hospital.ain, and many others who have cared for dr. brantly and mrs. writebol. two patients who were treated at emory university hospital for ebola virus disease. today i am pleased to announce that dr. brantly is being discharged from the hospital. after a rigorous course of treatment and thorough testing, we have determined in conjunction with the centers for disease control and state health departments, that dr. brantly has recovered from the ebola virus infection and that he can return to his family, to his community, and to his life without public health concerns. the second patient, mrs. writebol, was discharged this past tuesday, august 19. the medical staff here at emory is confident that the discharge from the hospital of both of these patients poses no public health threat. the hospital is respecting mrs. writebol's wishes for privacy at this time so we will not be making any further comments about her clinical course. speaking on behalf of everyone at emory, we are tremendously plea