Atlanta (CNN) -- An American doctor infected with Ebola is making progress a day after he arrived in Atlanta from Liberia, where he contracted the deadly virus.
"It's encouraging that he seems to be improving," Thomas Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told CBS' "Face the Nation" on Sunday. "That is really important, and we are hoping he will continue to improve."
The Christian charity that employs Dr. Kent Brantly confirmed that the 33-year-old received a dose of an experimental serum before leaving Liberia.
"We praise God for the news that Kent's condition is improving," Samaritan's Purse said in a statement.
Brantly, the first known patient with the deadly virus to be treated on U.S. soil, landed at Dobbins Air Reserve Base in Georgia on Saturday and was quickly rushed to Atlanta's Emory University Hospital
He's one of two Americans sickened by the deadly viral hemorrhagic fever last month while on the front lines of a major outbreak in West Africa.
Emory has said it will treat Brantly and fellow missionaryNancy Writebol in an isolation unit.
Phoenix Air says its highly specialized air ambulance, equipped with an isolation unit, departed Georgia for Liberia on Sunday evening to pick up Writebol. The flight is scheduled to land in Georgia on Tuesday.
Brantly's wife, parents and sister cried when they saw him on CNN walking from the ambulance into the hospital, another representative of Samaritan's Purse said on condition of anonymity. His wife, Amber, later said she was relieved that her husband was back in the United States and was "confident that he is receiving the very best care."
"I was able to see Kent today. He is in good spirits," she said Sunday. "He thanked everyone for their prayers and asked for continued prayer for Nancy Writebol's safe return and full recovery."
Amber Brantly visited her husband along with their daughter in Liberia, but Frieden said "they did not have contact with him when he was sick, so it does not appear that they would be at risk."
Hes one of two Americans sickened by the deadly viral hemorrhagic fever last month while on the front lines of a major outbreak in West Africa.
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