"Nina Pham was the first person to catch Ebola on U.S. soil, and now, 13 days after testing positive,
she has been declared free of the deadly disease.
Her first order of business will be to hug her dog, Bentley, she said Friday.
She invoked God and science in expressing gratitude for her ongoing recovery from a disease that has no established cure.
"I feel fortunate and blessed to be standing here today," she said. "Throughout this ordeal, I have put my faith in God and my medical team."
Prayer sustained her, and she thanked people around the world who prayed for her, Pham told
reporters Friday at the National Institutes of Health hospital in Bethesda, Maryland.
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| Bentley |
She said Friday that she looks forward to resuming a normal life and seeing Bentley, a Cavalier King Charles spaniel who has been held in quarantine -- just in case -- back in Texas. She said she's been through a "very stressful and challenging" time.
Without direct reference to the continent, she alluded to how Ebola has ravaged West Africa in an unprecedented outbreak that the World Health Organization says has caused almost 10,000 confirmed or probable cases of infection and a total of 4,877 deaths as of this week.
"I am on my way back to recovery even as I reflect on how many others have not been so fortunate," she said." CNN
Praise ye the LORD.
Praise God in his sanctuary:
praise him in the firmament of his power.
Psalm 150:1