Nina Pham is cured of Ebola and will return to Texas to reunite with her dog Bentley.
Pham briefly addressed the public at a press conference Friday after doctors at the National Institutes of Health confirmed she was free of the deadly virus.
"I put my trust in God and my medical team," Pham said. She thanked Dr. Kent Brantly, a physician earlier cured of Ebola who donated his blood to Pham and other patients in the U.S. She also said she is joining others in hoping that Dallas nurse Amber Vinson and Dr. Craig Spencer, of New York City, recover from the virus.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at NIH, said it was an honor "to have the opportunity to treat and care for and get to know such an extraordinarily courageous person."
He said doctors did five consecutive tests to make sure Pham is cured of the virus, all of which came back negative for Ebola.
He also reminded the public, who is reeling from news that Dr. Spencer is confirmed to have the virus a day after he was out on the subway and bowling in New York City, that the risk to the general public is less than that of healthcare workers treating infected patients.
"[Pham] was with a very sick person," Fauci said.
Pham, 26, was admitted to the Special Clinical Studies Unit at NIH on Oct. 16 after being infected with the virus while treating an Ebola patient at a Texas hospital.
