CHARLOTTE, NC – Three missionaries who’ve been working to fight the Ebola virus in Liberia are under quarantine in Charlotte. One of them is the husband of Charlotte missionary and Ebola patient Nancy Writebol .
David Writebol is now one step closer to being re-united with his wife Nancy. He and two SIM doctors flew into Charlotte on a private charter Sunday night. The doctors have been treating Ebola patients at medical facilities in Liberia for several weeks.
“They’re healthy, they were healthy when they got on the airplane in Monrovia, Liberia. They were checked by a nurse from the county before they deplaned at Charlotte Douglas Airport,” said Bruce Johnson, president of SIM USA.
Johnson says all three missionaries are under quarantine for 21 days, which is the longest incubation period for Ebola. They’re staying in RV’s in a secluded area of SIM’s South Charlotte campus
After the three-week seclusion…”Then we can reassure that person and everybody else that the person does not have Ebola Virus Disease, that they are not infectious and it’s safe for them to mix freely with the public,” said Dr. Stephen Keener, Mecklenburg County Medical Director.
During the quarantine, Keener says nurses will do check-ups on the missionaries twice a day.
Keener says there is no threat to people in Charlotte.
“It’s not the type of thing that being in the same room together or passing somebody on the street — one would catch it. It requires direct contact with infected body fluids. Blood, vomit, urine, feces… those types of fluids, and it would actually have to get on someone’s body and into the body,” said Keener.
Five other adults and six children who came back from Liberia last week are also staying at the SIM campus.
The organization does not plan to bring back any more missionaries at this time.
