OSLO, October 20 (RIA Novosti) - Silje Lene Michaelsen, a Norwegian doctor who was infected with the Ebola virus while working for Doctors Without Borders in Sierra Leone, was released from the isolation at Oslo’s Ulleval University Hospital Friday and says she is in good health.
“I am very grateful for the treatment at Ulleval. Today, I am healthy and no longer contagious. . . I am glad you were not scared by the fact that I got infected,” Michaelsen told reporters.
The Norwegian doctor traveled to the city of Bo in Sierra Leone on July 2. She felt ill after work on October 2 and was diagnosed with Ebola two days later.
After testing positive for the dangerous virus, Michaelsen was hastily transported to Ulleval University Hospital, where she reportedly received an experimental Ebola treatment, though the hospital is yet to issue an official statement on her treatment. According to earlier media reports, Norway received the world’s last dose of the experimental ZMapp drug.
Michaelsen praised Norwegian hospital workers for providing her with good care and lashed out against the international community for failing to properly respond to the Ebola epidemic in West Africa.
“I feel very lucky and it does not feel like I have had Ebola. Those who have been and are infected with Ebola in Africa have a whole different experience . . . [They are] isolated in hot, overcrowded tents on hard beds and with dead bodies on the neighboring beds. And that is only if you are lucky enough to be admitted,” she said.
“We all felt the battle against time, but the world stood still. Nothing happened and we felt helpless while the infection numbers just increased”.
West Africa is currently facing the worst Ebola outbreak in history, which so far has claimed the lives of over 4,500 people, according to the latest WHO estimates.
Ebola is transmitted through direct contact with the bodily fluids of those infected and there is no officially approved medication for the disease as of today, though several countries are working on vaccines.
