We previously reported that Vietnamese nurse Nina Pham had contracted Ebola after caring for Thomas Duncan (the first Ebola case in the United States). She was also the first case of Ebola transmission in the United States. Miraculously, the virus is now out of her system.

“I feel fortunate and blessed to be standing here today,” she told reporters.

Ebola has a very high mortality rate, but some people have been able to be cured of the virus. Notably, Dr. Kent Brantly, who contracted Ebola in a mission trip to Africa. He donated plasma to Ms. Pham in the hopes that the antibodies in his blood would help her overcome the Ebola virus.

Nina Pham was tested for Ebola five different times before she was declared as free of the virus. Officials don’t know the exact treatment that worked because she was given several experimental treatments.

This is a great sign for the advancement of Ebola treatments, and we can only hope for the same results in the other patients that contracted Ebola.

Source: ABC News

Written by Megumi Tanaka