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SIM International: Third Missionary Has Ebola

Courtesy of the Centers For Disease Control And Prevention

S.I.M. International says another American serving with the Charlotte-based charity has contracted Ebola.      

The name of the doctor has not been released, but in a statement S.I.M International said he has tested positive for the virus and is now at the group’s Ebola isolation unit in the Liberian capital of Monrovia.

The doctor was not working with known Ebola patients. He was instead working in obstetrics patients at the Christian ministry’s hospital. It’s not yet known how the doctor contracted the virus.

Two other missionaries tested positive for Ebola last month. Nancy Writebol and Dr. Kent Brantly were flown from Liberia to Emery hospital in Atlanta for treatment. Nineteen days later they both were released after a full recovery.

The World Health Organization estimates more than 1,500 have died from the disease. The group also warns the current West African Ebola outbreak, already the largest on record, could grow to more than 20,000 cases.

Tom Bullock decided to trade the khaki clad masses and traffic of Washington DC for Charlotte in 2014. Before joining WFAE, Tom spent 15 years working for NPR. Over that time he served as everything from an intern to senior producer of NPR’s Election Unit. Tom also spent five years as the senior producer of NPR’s Foreign Desk where he produced and reported from Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen, Haiti, Egypt, Libya, Lebanon among others. Tom is looking forward to finally convincing his young daughter, Charlotte, that her new hometown was not, in fact, named after her.