ANOTHER AMERICAN CONTRACTS EBOLA

A doctor working for the missionary group SIM has contracted the Ebola virus while working in a hospital in Liberia.

The doctor was treating pregnant women at the maternity ward of ELWA hospital in Monrovia, Liberia. It is unclear how he contracted the virus as he was not treating patients in the hospital's Ebola isolation facility.

"My heart was deeply saddened, but my faith was not shaken, when I learned another of our missionary doctors contracted Ebola," SIM president Bruce Johnson said in a statement.

SIM is the same missionary group that Nancy Writebol had been working for when she contracted Ebola in July. Writebol and fellow American Ebola survivor Dr. Kent Brantly, who worked for the aid group Samaritan's Purse, were evacuated from Liberia to Emory University Hospital in Atlanta for treatment and declared virus-free. Writebol was discharged on August 19 and Brantly went home two days later.

There are fears that this incident could discourage other charity groups that provide non-ebola support from coming to these countries. Any further reduction of medical support would be disastrous.