Atlanta (CNN) -- A medical plane whisked an American infected with Ebola from Liberia to Georgia on Saturday, the latest leg of a race to save the first known patient with the deadly virus to be treated on U.S. soil. 
 
 Shortly after the plane landed, an ambulance rushed Dr. Kent Brantly from Dobbins Air Reserve Base to Atlanta's Emory University Hospital. He's one of two Americans sickened by the deadly viral hemorrhagic fever last month while on the front lines of a major outbreak in West Africa. 
 
 Video from Emory showed someone in a white, full-body protective suit helping a similarly clad person emerge from the ambulance and walk into the hospital. 
 
 Hospital visitor: 'Oh, my God' 
 
 Emory has said it will treat Brantly, 33, and fellow missionary Nancy Writebol in an isolation unit. 
 
 The plane equipped with an isolation unit can only transport one patient at a time. It will now pick up Writebol in Liberia and bring her to Georgia early next week, said Todd Shearer, spokesman for Christian charity Samaritan's Purse, with which both Americans were affiliated. 
 
 Brantly's wife, parents and sister cried when they saw him on CNN walking from the ambulance into the hospital, another representative of Samaritan's Purse said on condition of anonymity. His wife, Amber, later said she was relieved that her husband was back in the United States. 
 
 "I spoke with him, and he is glad to be back in the U.S.," she said in statement. "I am thankful to God for his safe transport and for giving him the strength to walk into the hospital." 
 
 Brantly's wife visited with him from behind a glass wall for about 45 minutes, the Samaritan's Purse representative said. Kent Brantly was described as "in great spirits and so grateful." 
 
 Tennessee doctor who worked with Ebola patients quarantines self 
 
 Brantly, who has ties to Texas and Indiana, and Writebol, of North Carolina, became sick while caring for Ebola patients in Liberia, one of three West African nations hit by an outbreak. 
 
 Treatment in isolation 
 
 This will be the first human Ebola test for a U.S. medical facility. The patients will be treated at an isolated unit where precautions are in place to keep such deadly diseases from spreading, unit supervisor Dr. Bruce Ribner said. 
 
 Everything that comes in and out of the unit will be controlled, Ribner said, and it will have windows and an intercom for staff to interact with patients without being in the room. 
 
 Ebola is not airborne or waterborne, and spreads through contact with organs and bodily fluids such as blood, saliva, urine and other secretions of infected people. 
 
 There is no FDA-approved treatment for Ebola, and Emory will use what Ribner calls "supportive care." That means carefully tracking a patient's symptoms, vital signs and organ function and taking measures, such as blood transfusions and dialysis, to keep patients stable. 
 
 Dr. Sanjay Gupta: Ebola will go global 
 
 "We just have to keep the patient alive long enough in order for the body to control this infection," Ribner said. 
 
 Writebol was given an experimental serum this week, Samaritan's Purse said, though its purpose and effects weren't immediately publicized. 
 
 The Ebola virus causes viral hemorrhagic fever, which refers to a group of viruses that affect multiple organ systems in the body and are often accompanied by bleeding. 
 
 Early symptoms include sudden onset of fever, weakness, muscle pain, headaches and a sore throat. They later progress to vomiting, diarrhea, impaired kidney and liver function -- and sometimes internal and external bleeding. 
 
 Bruce Johnson, president of SIM USA, a Christian mission organization with which Writebol also is linked, said Saturday that both were seriously ill but stable. 
 
 "My last report (on Brantly) was yesterday. ... He was ambulatory, being able to talk, converse, and get up. So that was encouraging," Johnson said Saturday morning. 
 
 On Writebol, Johnson said: "She's responsive, and we're encouraged at how she's doing." 
 
 Emory's isolation unit was created with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, based down the road. It aims to optimize care for those with highly infectious diseases and is one of four U.S. institutions capable of providing such treatment. 
 
 The World Health Organization reports that the outbreak in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea is believed to have infected 1,323 people and killed more than 729 this year, as of July 27. 
 
 Fear, conspiracy theories 
 
 As officials worked to bring the two Americans home, the idea of intentionally bringing Ebola into the United States has rattled many nerves. 
 
 "The road to hell was paved with good intentions," wrote one person, using the hashtag #EbolaOutbreak. "What do we say to our kids When they get sick& die?" 
 
 On the website of conspiracy talker Alex Jones, who has long purported the CDC could unleash a pandemic and the government would react by instituting authoritarian rule, the news was a feast of fodder. 
 
 "Feds would exercise draconian emergency powers if Ebola hits U.S.," a headline read on infowars.com. 
 
 Ribner repeatedly downplayed the risk for anyone who will be in contact with Brantly or Writebol. 
 
 "We have two individuals who are critically ill, and we feel that we owe them the right to receive the best medical care," Ribner said. 
 
 The fight against Ebola 
 
 All concerns about the United States pale in comparison to the harsh reality in the hardest-hit areas. 
 
 Even in the best-case scenario, it could take three to six months to stem the epidemic in West Africa, said Dr. Thomas Frieden, director of the CDC. 
 
 There's no vaccine, though one is in the works. 
 
 There's no standardized treatment for the disease, either; the most common approach is to support organ functions and keep up bodily fluids such as blood and water long enough for the body to fight off the infection. 
 
 The National Institutes of Health plans to begin testing an experimental Ebola vaccine in people as early as September. Tests on primates have been successful. 
 
 So far, the outbreak is confined to West Africa. Although infections are dropping in Guinea, they are on the rise in Liberia and Sierra Leone. 
 
 In the 1990s, an Ebola strain tied to monkeys -- Ebola-Reston -- was found in the United States, but no humans got sick from it, according to the CDC. 
 
 Experts: U.S. health care system well-prepared for Ebola 
 
 CNN's Chelsea J. Carter, Greg Botelho, Deanna Hackney, John Branch, Danielle Dellorto, Barbara Starr, MaryLynn Ryan and Ben Brumfield contributed to this report. ||||| Two Americans who had been working to treat Ebola patients in Africa have been stricken by the disease. Officials say they will be taken to Atlanta's Emory University Hospital in a tightly sealed isolation unit. The first is expected to arrive Saturday, and the other a few days later, according to hospital officials. 
 
 Here are five things to know about Ebola and how it is spread: 
 
 1. THE WEST AFRICA EBOLA OUTBREAK IS NOW THE LARGEST IN HISTORY. The current outbreak in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone has sickened more than 1,300 people and killed more than 700 this year. 
 
 2. BUT SOME PEOPLE HAVE SURVIVED EBOLA. While the fatality rate for Ebola can be as high as 90 percent, health officials in the three countries say people have recovered from the virus and the current death rate is about 70 percent. Those who fared best sought immediate medical attention and got supportive care to prevent dehydration even though there is no specific treatment for Ebola itself. 
 
 3. EBOLA CAN LOOK A LOT LIKE OTHER DISEASES. The early symptoms of an Ebola infection include fever, headache, muscle aches and sore throat, according to the World Health Organization. It can be difficult to distinguish between Ebola and the symptoms of malaria, typhoid fever or cholera. Only in later stages do people with Ebola begin bleeding both internally and externally, often through the nose and ears. 
 
 4. EBOLA IS ONLY SPREAD THROUGH BODILY FLUIDS. The Ebola virus is not airborne, so people would have to come into contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person. These include blood, sweat, vomit, feces, urine, saliva or semen — making transmission through casual contact in a public setting unlikely. 
 
 5. FEAR AND MISINFORMATION THOUGH IS MAKING THINGS WORSE. In each of the affected countries, health workers and clinics have come under attack from panicked residents who mistakenly blame foreign doctors and nurses for bringing the virus to remote communities. Family members also have removed sick Ebola patients from hospitals, including one woman in Sierra Leone's capital who later died. Police had to use tear gas to disperse others who attacked a hospital in the country. 
 
 ___ 
 
 Online: 
 
 http://www.who.int ||||| In this undated photo released by the Center for Disease Control, a Aeromedical Biological Containment System which looks like a sealed isolation tent for Ebola air transportation is shown. On Thursday... (Associated Press) 
 
 Signs point toward the emergency department at Emory University Hospital as the hospital prepares to receive an American aid worker who has been diagnosed with Ebola, Friday, Aug. 1, 2014, in Atlanta.... (Associated Press) 
 
 In this undated photo released by the Center for Disease Control, a Aeromedical Biological Containment System which looks like a sealed isolation tent for Ebola air transportation is shown. On Thursday... (Associated Press) 
 
 An ambulance departs Dobbins Air Reserve Base, Saturday, Aug. 2, 2014, in Marietta, Ga. Officials at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta expect an American that was infected with the Ebola virus to... (Associated Press) 
 
 This Oct. 7, 2013 photo provided by Jeremy Writebol show his mother, Nancy Writebol, with children in Liberia. Writebol is one of two Americans working for a missionary group in Liberia that have been... (Associated Press) 
 
 Dr. Jay Varkey, an infectious disease specialist at Emory Healthcare, speaks with reporters, Saturday, Aug. 2, 2014 in Atlanta. Varkey is part of a team of doctors who will treat the two American aid... (Associated Press) 
 
 An ambulance departs Dobbins Air Reserve Base, Saturday, Aug. 2, 2014, in Marietta, Ga. Officials at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta expect an American that was infected with the Ebola virus to... (Associated Press) 
 
 Dr. Alexander Isakov, left, executive director of Emory's Office of Critical Event Preparedness and Response, talks to the media following a news conference as he stands next to Dr. Bruce Ribner, Friday,... (Associated Press) 
 
 This photo provided by Jeremy Writebol show his parents, David and Nancy Writebol, who are Christian missionaries in Liberia. Nancy Writebol is one of two Americans working for a missionary group in Liberia... (Associated Press) 
 
 In this undated photo released by the Center for Disease Control, a Gulfsteam airplane modified to carry a Aeromedical Biological Containment System, which looks like a sealed isolation tent for Ebola... (Associated Press) 
 
 Dr. Bruce Ribner, the Emory University Hospital epidemiologist who oversees the isolated unit at the hospital set up to treat patients exposed to certain infectious diseases, speaks at a news conference,... (Associated Press) ||||| Ambulance carrying the first of two Ebola virus patients leaves Dobbins Air Reserve Base for Emory University Hospital. Mike Morris/Staff. 
 
 Plane believed to be carrying at least one of the two Ebola patients lands at Dobbins Air Reserve Base in Cobb County. 
 
 Dr. Kent Brantly is shown in this 2013 photo provided by JPS Health Network. A relief group official says Brantly is one of two American aid workers that have tested positive for the Ebola virus while working to combat an outbreak of the deadly disease at a hospital in Liberia. A spokesman said both Americans have been isolated and are under intensive treatment.(AP Photo/JPS Health Network) 
 
 By Mike Morris 
 
 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution 
 
 An airplane carrying one of the two American aid workers stricken with the Ebola virus landed at Dobbins Air Reserve Base in Cobb County late Saturday morning, and the patient was transferred into a Grady Memorial Hospital ambulance and transferred to Emory University Hospital. 
 
 The two American aid workers affected with the virus, Dr. Kent Brantly and missionary Nancy Writebol, remain in critical condition, North Carolina-based relief group Samaritan’s Purse has said in a statement. 
 
 The plane carrying Brantly landed shortly after 11 a.m. on Saturday, and the ambulance carrying the patient left the base around noon, heading to the hospital. 
 
 Shortly before 12:30 p.m., Brantly got out to the back of the ambulance and walked into the hospital. The patient and the ambulance crew were all wearing white containment suits that covered their bodies from head to toe. 
 
 It was not immediately clear Writebol will arrive in Atlanta. She is also expected to be flown into Dobbins. 
 
 Brantly and Writebol will be treated in a separate isolation unit at the hospital. Located away from patients, the small room has two beds and special air filters. It’s one of only four such units in the nation.
– Ebola has arrived in the US, though in a carefully controlled manner. A plane carrying one of two Americans who contracted the disease in Africa arrived at a military air base near Atlanta this morning, reports the Journal-Constitution. The AP says the patient is 33-year-old doctor Kent Brantly, though hygienist Nancy Writebol is expected to arrive at some point as well. Both will be treated in isolation units at Atlanta's Emory University Hospital. It's the first time any US medical facility has had an Ebola patient, notes CNN. The disease is usually fatal, with the death toll in West Africa now above 700. (While being treated in Africa, Brantly turned down an experimental serum so Writebol could get it.)