A central Massachusetts doctor who caught and survived Ebola while working in Liberia, is headed back to the West African country. Rick Sacra of UMass Medical School in Worcester will head to Liberia on Thursday as part of a missionary trip. While the number of cases of Ebola there have gone down, Sacra says he has broader public health goals for Liberia.
“If we don’t continue to be very strategic about strengthening the health system there, then they’ll be vulnerable to another epidemic, whether it’s Ebola or some other disease,” Sacra says. “So we really need to help with training and strengthening the health care system.”
Sacra says he’s now immune to Ebola after recovering from the virus. But he says he’ll still follow the same safety protocols as all other health workers.
