US doctor with Ebola in Atlanta for treatment

ATLANTA - The Associated Press

This undated handout photo obtained July 30 courtesy of Samaritan's Purse shows Dr. Kent Brantly near Monrovia, Liberia. The American doctor who has contracted the dangerous Ebola virus in Liberia is 'weak and quite ill,' a colleague of his told AFP on July 29. AFP Photo

The first Ebola victim to be brought to the United States from Africa was safely escorted into a specialized isolation unit at one of the nation’s best hospitals, where doctors said they are confident the deadly virus won’t escape.

Fear that the outbreak killing more than 700 people in Africa could spread in the U.S. has generated considerable anxiety among some Americans. But infectious disease experts said the public faces zero risk as Emory University Hospital treats a critically ill missionary doctor and a charity worker who were infected in Liberia.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has received “nasty emails” and at least 100 calls from people saying “How dare you bring Ebola into the country!?” CDC Director Dr. Tom Frieden told The Associated Press on Aug. 2.

“I hope that our understandable fear of the unfamiliar does not trump our compassion when ill Americans return to the U.S. for care,” Frieden said.

The latest outbreak of Ebola in West Africa has killed 729 people of the more than 1,300 infected since March.

The World Health Organization has said the fast-moving outbreak was causing “catastrophic” loss of life in the affected countries of Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone.

Ebola, which has no vaccine, causes severe muscular pain, fever, headaches and, in the worst cases, unstoppable bleeding.

It has killed around two thirds of those it has infected since its emergence in 1976, with two outbreaks registering fatality rates approaching 90 percent.