Ashoka Mukpo, 'NBC News' Cameraman, Diagnosed With Ebola, Will Be Flown Back To US
A freelance cameraman working for NBC News in Liberia is part of the handful of Americans to test positive for Ebola. He will be flown back to the United States Sunday for treatment. Ashoka Mukpo, 33, was hired recently as the second cameraman for NBC correspondent Dr. Nancy Snyderman, who is covering the Ebola outbreak in Liberia.
NBC President Deborah Turness wrote in a memo to staff, "As you know, Dr. Nancy Snyderman and our news team are in Liberia covering the Ebola outbreak. One of the members of their crew is an American freelance cameraman who has worked in Liberia for the past three years and has recently been covering the epidemic for U.S. media outlets. On Tuesday he began working with our team. Today, he tested positive for Ebola."
The memo continued to read that they are doing everything in their power to get him back to the States to start treatment in a facility that deals with Ebola outbreak.
Mukpo's father, Dr. Mitchel Levy, who specializes in sepsis treatment, said, "Obviously he is scared and worried ...[Mukpo has been] seeing the death and tragedy and now it really hit home for him. But his spirits are better today." He also added that his son is in the early stages of the virus, which include "fever, muscle aches, weakness, tiredness."
Mukpo's mother told WBZ-TV Friday that her son would be flown back to the United States for treatment Sunday. According to The Washington Post, the plane that will be holding Mukpo will land in Monrovia Sunday night.
The cameraman has been working in Liberia for three years working for media outlets like Vice News. He is also an advocate for human rights in West Africa.
As for the other crewmembers, Turness explained that Snyderman and her team were returning to the U.S. and would be placed in quarantine for 21 days, as a precaution.
In the past months, three other Americans were in Liberia and infected with Ebola. Drs. Richard Sacra and Kent Brantly as well as missionary worker Nancy Writebol. They have all been discharged and treated in the United States for Ebola.