Ebola Patient From Providence Set To Leave Liberia, Father Says
PROVIDENCE (CBS) -- The father of the NBC News cameraman diagnosed with Ebola while working in West Africa says his son can't wait to get back in the United States for treatment.
Ashoka Mukpo, a Providence native, contracted Ebola while working with a news crew in West Africa. His father, Dr. Mitchell Levy, tells WBZ NewsRadio 1030 that the State Department has arranged to fly Mukpo out of Liberia at 4:17 p.m. Eastern Standard Time Sunday.
"The closer he gets to leaving and coming home, the better he feels," Levy said. "He's weak, tired, has a lot of muscle aches and a bit of a fever, but overall, stable."
Levy says Ashoka has received excellent treatment in Liberia at a Doctors Without Borders clinic in Monrovia. The problem is the lack of resources to treat patients and Levy says those doctors are overwhelmed. In fact, that was the story Ashoka was trying to report on while in Liberia.
"He was interested in shining a light on the tragedy that's going on with Ebola and the dire need for additional resources," Levy said. "The mortality statistics which are quoted are certainly colored by the limited resources to treat these folks in West Africa."
Ashoka is headed to Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha, the same place where Dr. Rick Sacra of Holden was treated after he was diagnosed with Ebola.
"I believe they're better equipped to give him intravenous fluid, which is the main treatment for Ebola," Levy said.
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