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ORLINWAGNER—THEASSOCIATEDPRESS Jeremy Writebol holds a photograph of his mother and father before an interview with a reporter in Wichita, Kan., on Sunday. Jeremy is the son of Nancy Writebol, a missionary stricken with Ebola. ByBillBarrow The Associated Press ATLANTA An American missionary with Ebola is getting better and has re- ceived the second dose of an experimental treatment, ac- cording to the aid organiza- tion she works for in West Africa's Liberia. Nancy Writebol is ex- pected to be flown to Atlan- ta's Emory University Hos- pital on Tuesday, where she will join another U.S. aid worker, Dr. Kent Brantly, in a special isolation unit. Brantly, who was flown to the hospital Saturday, also received the experimental treatment before he left Af- rica. The two Americans worked at an Ebola clinic in Liberia, one of three West Africa countries struggling to contain an outbreak of the deadly disease in West Africa. Health care workers are among the most vulner- able because of their close contact with patients. Writebol, 59, has been in isolation at her home in Li- beria since she was diag- nosed last month. She's now walking with assistance and has regained her ap- petite, said Bruce Johnson, president of SIM USA, the Charlotte, North Carolina.- based group that she works for in Africa. Johnson was hesitant to credit the treatment for her improvement. Brantly's con- dition has also improved. "Ebola is a tricky virus and one day you can be up and the next day down. One day is not indicative of the outcome," he said. But "we're grateful this medi- cine was available." The experimental treat- ment is made by Mapp Bi- opharmaceutical of San Diego, with funding from the government. The treat- ment is aimed at boosting the immune system's ef- forts to fight off the virus. It is made from antibodies produced by lab animals ex- posed to parts of the Ebola virus. It's impossible to know what if any role the exper- imental treatment played in the Americans' improve- ment— they could have im- proved on their own, as others who survived Ebola have done. There is no vaccine or specific treatment for Eb- ola, but several are under development. Brantly, who works for the international relief group Samaritan's Purse, also received a unit of blood from a 14-year-old boy, an Ebola survivor, who had been under his care, ac- cording to the group. In the meantime, doz- ens of African heads of state were in Washington on Monday for the opening of the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit, a three-day gath- ering hosted by President Barack Obama. Among the stated purposes: discussing how to help African nations overcome systemic chal- lenges, including disease. Ebola is considered one the world's deadliest dis- ease, and about 60 percent of the people who have got- ten sick in the current out- break in West Africa have died. More than 1,600 peo- ple have been stricken, kill- ing at least 887 of them in Liberia, Guinea, Sierra Le- one and Nigeria. A Liberian government official has confirmed that a medical evacuation team is scheduled to fly back to the United States early Tuesday with Writebol. Emory said last week that she would be treated there, along with Brantly. Emory boasts one of the nation's most sophis- ticated infectious disease units. Patients are sealed off from anyone not in protective gear. Lab tests are conducted inside the unit, ensuring that vi- ruses don't leave the quar- antined area. Family mem- bers see and communicate with patients through bar- riers. Ebola is only spread through direct contact with an infected person's blood or other bodily fluids, not through the air. Writebol and her hus- band, David, had been in Li- beria since last August, sent there by SIM USA and spon- sored by their home congre- gation at Calvary Church in Charlotte. The couple has been in- volved in foreign missions for 15 years, spending five years in Ecuador and nine years in Zambia, where Munro said they worked in a home for widows and or- phans. Aid worker with Eb ol a im pr ov in g DISEASE By Christopher Bodeen The Associated Press KUNMING, CHINA Rescu- ers found scores of survi- vors on Monday as they dug through homes shat- tered by an earthquake in southern China that killed at least 398 people and in- jured more than 1,800. Rainstorms were expected to continue to hinder res- cue efforts over the com- ing days. About 12,000 homes col- lapsed when the quake struck Sunday afternoon in impoverished Ludian county, around 230 miles northeast of Yunnan prov- ince's capital, Kunming, the official Xinhua News Agency reported. Rescuers digging in the debris by hand freed a 5-year-old boy whose legs were injured, Xinhua re- ported. It also said firefight- ers rescued 32 people who had been trapped but had retrieved the bodies of 43 residents. Drenched survivors, in- cluding some half-naked, were sitting along muddy roads in the rain waiting for food and medication, Xin- hua reported. Medics were reporting severe shortages of medicine and an inabil- ity to perform operations on the severely injured, while rescuers said their work had been hampered by continu- ous downpours and quake- triggered landslides, Xin- hua said. Ma Yaoqi, an 18-year-old volunteer in the quake zone, said by phone that at least half of the buildings had collapsed on the road from the city center of Zhaotong to the hardest-hit town of Longtou. The rest of the buildings were damaged, she said. "I saw dead bodies be- ing wrapped in quilts and carried away," said Ma, who arrived with 20 other volunteers Monday. "Some were wrapped with small quilts. Those must be kids." Overhead footage of the quake zone shot by state broadcaster CCTV showed older houses flattened but newer multistory buildings still standing. The magnitude-6.1 quake struck at 4:30 p.m. on Sun- day at a depth of 6 miles, ac- cording to the U.S. Geolog- ical Survey. China's earth- quake monitoring agency put the magnitude at 6.5. The central government has allocated $97 million for rescue and relief work after the quake, the Finance Ministry said. Dozens of trucks car- rying paramilitary troops with banners declaring "Help is on the way" trav- eled along the four-lane highway from Kunming to Zhaotong on Monday eve- ning. Heavy rain and thun- derstorms in the area were complicating efforts to bring tents, water, food and other relief supplies to sur- vivors. Roads had caved in, and rescuers were forced to travel on foot. ASIA Su rv iv or s du g ou t fr om C hi na q ua ke KYODO NEWS — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS People walk by collapsed houses a er Sunday's earthquake in Ludian County of Zhaotong City in southwest China's Yunnan Province on Monday. PAID ADVERTISEMENT TUESDAY, AUGUST 5, 2014 REDBLUFFDAILYNEWS.COM | NEWS | 5 B