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Monday, November 2, 2026Nov 2

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Ebola patient in Omaha eating ice cream

In this photo from Sept. 10, 2014, which was released by the Nebraska Medical Center, ebola patient Dr. Richard Sacra listens to Bible verses, read to him by his wife Debbie Sacra, unseen, via a video link . Dr. Sacra is being treated at the biocontainment unit at the Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha, Neb.  The photo was taken by their son, Max. (AP Photo/Nebraska Medical Center, Max Sacra)
In this photo from Sept. 10, 2014, which was released by the Nebraska Medical Center, ebola patient Dr. Richard Sacra listens to Bible verses, read to him by his wife Debbie Sacra, unseen, via a video link . Dr. Sacra is being treated at the biocontainment unit at the Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha, Neb. The photo was taken by their son, Max. (AP Photo/Nebraska Medical Center, Max Sacra) In this photo from Sept. 10, 2014, which was released by the Nebraska Medical Center, ebola patient Dr. Richard Sacra listens to Bible verses, read to him by his wife Debbie Sacra, unseen, via a video link . Dr. Sacra is being treated at the biocontainment unit at the Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha, Neb. The photo was taken by their son, Max. (AP Photo/Nebraska Medical Center, Max Sacra)

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – Officials at the Nebraska Medical Center where an American aid worker infected with Ebola is being treated say the patient is getting his appetite back.

Dr. Rick Sacra was flown to the Omaha, Nebraska, hospital on Sept. 5 for treatment in the hospital’s specialized 10-bed isolation unit.

Sacra’s doctors and his wife, Debbie, have said the 51-year-old doctor’s condition has steadily improved since he arrived.

On Friday, the hospital released a statement saying Sacra’s appetite is finally starting to come back. The hospital says Sacra sated a craving for ice cream with a pint of Ben & Jerry’s Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough.

Debbie Sacra says the ice cream helped her husband exceed doctors’ orders for him to start eating at least 1,000 calories a day.