--- title: Ebola Survivor Dr Kent Brantly Donates Blood to Infected Journalist description: The doctor, who contracted the disease in west Africa, gives blood to help NBC journalist fight the disease canonical: https://time.com/3481314/kent-brantly-ashoka-mukpo-blood/ author: NBC News article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-10-08T12:08:35.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:40:34.313Z article:section: Health og:title: Ebola Survivor Dr Kent Brantly Donates Blood to Infected Journalist og:description: The doctor, who contracted the disease in west Africa, gives blood to help NBC journalist fight the disease og:url: https://time.com/3481314/kent-brantly-ashoka-mukpo-blood/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5fe49f96c55bbf27/6986a2e7169ab06d5427b1e1/brantly-ebola-blood.jpg?branch=production&width=1159&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1159 og:image:height: 652 og:image:alt: Emory Hospital Releases American Aid Workers Treated For Ebola og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Ebola Survivor Dr Kent Brantly Donates Blood to Infected Journalist twitter:description: The doctor, who contracted the disease in west Africa, gives blood to help NBC journalist fight the disease twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5fe49f96c55bbf27/6986a2e7169ab06d5427b1e1/brantly-ebola-blood.jpg?branch=production&width=1159&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # U.S. Ebola Survivor Donates Blood to Infected Journalist > Sponsored content. 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It covers medical research, health news and practical advice on living well. #### Where can I get reliable health news by email? Health Matters is TIME's weekday health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free weekday newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-health-2026q3/newsletters?i=a5479348-0ea7-4213-81dd-a7f45c616836&cr=time-nl-health-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Contact Tracing: How To Trace The Spread of Ebola [Watch (HLS stream): Contact Tracing: How To Trace The Spread of Ebola](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/EJ3m56cA.m3u8) (1:49)  _Published 2014-10-02. Health officials in the US are using a method known as contact tracing, to see who is at risk from Ebola._ by [NBC News](https://time.com/author/nbc-news/) ## NBC News Oct 8, 2014 12:08 PM UTC  Dr. Kent Brantly an Ebola patient at Emory Hospital during a press conference announcing his release from the hospital on Aug. 21, 2014 in Atlanta. Dr. Kent Brantly an Ebola patient at Emory Hospital during a press conference announcing his release from the hospital on Aug. 21, 2014 in Atlanta. Jessica McGowan—Getty Images by [NBC News](https://time.com/author/nbc-news/) ## NBC News Oct 8, 2014 12:08 PM UTC The [first American flown back to the U.S. after contracting Ebola](http://www.nbcnews.com/feature/saving-dr-brantly) has donated blood to an NBC News freelance cameraman who was also diagnosed with the virus. [Photojournalist Ashoka Mukpo’s](http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/ebola-virus-outbreak/nbc-freelancer-ashoka-mukpo-enormously-relieved-be-nebraska-n219426) family told NBC News early Wednesday that [Dr. Kent Brantly](http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/ebola-virus-outbreak/whats-stake-humanity-ebola-survivor-brantly-warns-n205331) was contacted by the Nebraska Medical Center and asked to give plasma. Experts hope the survivor’s antibodies will kick-start Mukpo’s immune system. Brantly was on a road trip from Indiana to Texas when he received a call from the medical center telling him his blood type matched Mukpo’s… [Read more from our partners at NBC News](http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/ebola-virus-outbreak/ebola-survivor-dr-kent-brantly-donates-blood-ashoka-mukpo-n220811?cid=par-time-article%5F20141008) ### See The Tobacco Leaves That Could Cure Ebola  Tobacco plants are grown for six weeks in the Medicago greenhouse in Quebec City so their leaves are large enough to serve as a factory for making antibodies. The plants are not modified or genetically altered in any way during this time. Mathieu Belanger—Reuters  Researchers at Icon Genetics in Germany prepare the DNA coding for antibodies that can neutralize Ebola. These genes are inserted into a soil bacterium that easily infects the tobacco plant cells. Once in the cells, the gene is treated like any other plant gene and the plant starts churning out the antibodies. Sean Gallup—Getty Images  To infect the leaves with the antibody-containing bacteria, the plants are submerged in a water solution of the loaded bacteria. Plant cells have plenty of empty spaces filled with air, so a vacuum removes the air and the water, along with the bacteria and antibody genes, flow in. Mathieu Belanger—Reuters  The leaf at the bottom has not been treated. The leaf on top is now an antibody-making factory. The plant's normal machinery starts making the antibody as if it is a plant protein. Mathieu Belanger—Reuters  Researchers at Icon Genetics grind the leaves down to filter out the antibodies. Sean Gallup—Getty Images  Ultraviolet light reveals the clusters of cells that are busy making antibodies. One kg of leaves produces about 5g of antibodies, which is about a third of the dose required to treat an Ebola patient. Sean Gallup—Getty Images ## Transcript Now that the first case of Ebola has been diagnosed on American soil, what's next? How can we keep the virus from spreading? Health officials are now turning to a process known as contact tracing to figure out who else might have been exposed to the virus. The likeliest candidates are the medical technicians who treated him. That's because Ebola is spread by direct contact with bodily fluids, which health workers could have come in contact with while treating the patient. Beyond that are the patient's family members or people who have been living in close quarters with him since he developed the symptoms, including fever. Vomiting or diarrhea. These people will be monitored for 21 days, which is the incubation period of Ebola, to see if they develop similar symptoms. They won't be quarantined, but they might be asked to avoid traveling out of the country and spending time in crowded public areas. If anyone in either of these rings appears infected. Health officials will extend their monitoring to include anyone those people have been in contact with. Including their family members, school classmates, or work colleagues, until no more Ebola symptoms are discovered. Beyond that, if people in this ring appear infected, they too would be monitored for symptoms for 21 days, and the analysis would spread to their contacts. The passengers on the patient's flights from Liberia to the US aren't considered at high risk of exposure, since he was not experiencing symptoms then. Of course, all of this depends on honest and accurate information from the patient and his contacts about where they have been and with whom. Something that has been an issue in West Africa. There the stigma against Ebola has led patients to flee health volunteers who are attempting to trace contacts or fail to report people they have interacted with. 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