An American doctor who became infected with the Ebola virus in West Africa was flown on Saturday to Atlanta to receive treatment. But not before the plane carrying the patient made a pit stop in New England.
The plane briefly refueled at Maine’s Bangor International Airport and the crew received “what appeared to be medical supplies,” reported WCVB.
However, people in the area are not at risk to contract the virus as a result of the pit stop.
Tony Caruso, director of the Bangor airport, told The Portland Press Herald that no one exited the plane, adding that the passengers and everyone stayed on board while customs cleared the plane.
Dr. Kent Brantly, 33, an aid worker who was in Liberia, Africa, helping to treat Ebola patients there, has been identified as the Ebola patient on board Saturday’s first plane. Another patient is also expected to land in the U.S. Saturday afternoon.
After landing at Dobbins Air Reserve Base in Marietta, Georgia, he was taken to Emory University Hospital, where he will join another aid worker who will also be treated for the disease.
Boston-area hospitals are reportedly training staff to look out for symptoms of the deadly Ebola virus, since experts now fear that cases of the disease may spread beyond West Africa.
Ebola, which is highly contagious , is a fatal form of hemorrhagic fever that is caused by five different types of viruses. Up to 90 percent of people who are infected with the virus die, and there is no known cure.
