A U.S. nurse who became the first person to contract Ebola on American soil while caring for a patient from Liberia was released from the hospital Friday, officials at the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) treating her said.
"Our patient, Nina Pham, is free of Ebola virus," Anthony Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the NIH, told reporters, citing five consecutive negative PCR tests that determine if a patient has the virus.
"She has no virus in her. She feels well ...She looks extraordinarily well," Fauci said at a press conference, adding the NIH did not administer to Pham any experimental drug.
"We provided her with supportive care," he said. "One of the most important things in bringing back an Ebola patient to health is to give them the kind of medical general support to allow their own body to then be able to fight off the virus and essentially get rid of the virus."
Pham is one of the two nurses infected at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital while treating Thomas Eric Duncan, who died on Oct. 8. She was transferred to the NIH's clinical center for treatment on Oct. 16.
Pham, who was present at the conference with her mother and sister, read a brief statement and didn't answer questions.
"I feel fortunate and blessed to be standing here today," Pham said. "I am on my way back to recovery even as I reflect on how many others have not been so fortunate."
Pham thanked everyone involved in her care, especially Kent Brantly, who donated plasma to her.
Brantly was the first of the five American patients who contracted the virus in West Africa and later brought back for treatment. All five patients have successfully recovered.
The nurse also asked for privacy as she prepared to return to Texas, where she said she is looking forward to trying to "get back to a normal life" and reuniting with her dog, Bentley.
The White House said in a statement President Barack Obama will meet with Pham Friday afternoon.
Pham's discharge came just a day after fellow nurse Amber Vinson's family reportedly said she had been declared free of the virus and Craig Spencer, a physician who had treated Ebola patients in Guinea while working for Doctors Without Borders, was diagnosed with the virus in New York City.
U.S. hospitals have treated a total of nine cases of Ebola, only the Liberian, Duncan, died of the virus.