What's quarantine like for hantavirus-exposed cruise passengers? Ebola survivor recalls "lonely feeling."
As the University of Nebraska Medical Center takes in Americans who were on board the hantavirus-stricken cruise ship for quarantine, an Ebola survivor from Massachusetts is remembering the "lonely" weeks spent at the hospital that he says is fully prepared to care for those patients.
"If there's any place that you want these people to be, it's at a facility like the Nebraska Biocontainment Unit," Dr. Rick Sacra, of Holden, told WBZ-TV. "They're not just being released somewhere to wander around town ... they've been brought to the best kind of facility and every precaution will be taken."
In 2014, Sacra was working as a missionary doctor delivering babies at a hospital in Liberia when he contracted the often deadly Ebola virus. He was flown from West Africa to Omaha, where he spent three weeks in the facility that's specialized to treat people exposed to infectious diseases.
What's it like inside the Nebraska Biocontainment Unit?
"It's a lonely feeling being in that kind of a treatment facility where the people who come and treat you have to put on gowns and goggles and masks," Sacra recalled. "There's a lot of anxiety in there. You just pray and hope for the best."
Sacra was isolated from the world, with a video screen in his room so he could communicate with his wife and children.
"Only one person at a time would be in my room and they would be in full PPE (personal protective equipment). And of course I couldn't have visitors," he said. "I don't know what level of isolation these folks are going to be under, but they'll certainly be under some level of observation and isolation."
Fifteen cruise ship passengers are being held in the National Quarantine Unit, which is meant for people who are not feeling sick.
The quarantine unit has 20 single-occupancy rooms with air filtration systems to prevent any virus from spreading. Medical Director Angela Hewlett described it Monday as "more like a hotel," with Wi-Fi, exercise equipment and private bathrooms.
One person who tested positive for hantavirus but is not experiencing symptoms is in the Biocontainment Unit, which is equipped to treat patients with hospital-level care.
"They've expanded their facilities a lot so they're definitely ready for this kind of engagement," Sacra said.
Despite the lonely memories, Sacra said he was "relieved and happy" when he heard that the cruise ship passengers were going to be under the care of the Nebraska Medical Center staff. Sacra visited the hospital recently to commemorate 10 years since he was treated there.
"A lot of the team is the same, a lot of the same people are still there. These are real long-term, dedicated people," he said. "They make you feel confident that you're getting the best care possible."
"Wishing them all the best"
Sacra said he's praying for the cruise ship passengers taken to Nebraska and "wishing them all the best through this journey."
"You just think about those folks and how afraid they must be," he said. "But again, they're heading to the place where the people are the most well-trained, the most confident, the most able to deal with even an illness like this that doesn't have an established protocol."
