The American doctor diagnosed with the deadly Ebola virus in Liberia says he will have no regrets if he cannot be saved, a friend revealed today. Kent Smith, . an elder at the South Central Alliance Churches in Fort Worth, Texas, . where Kent Brantly and his wife Amber worship, told MailOnline that the doctor has been frank . with friends. 'God's going to deliver me from this . but even if he doesn't I have lived my life for him and I have no . regrets,' he has said, Mr Smith told MailOnline. Dr Brantly, a 33-year-old father of two, is one of two Americans fighting for their lives. Married . missionary Nancy Writebol, from Charlotte, North Carolina, is also fighting for her life at a Liberian hospital as the continent struggles . against the worst ever outbreak in history. Devoted: Kent Brantly, pictured with his wife Amber and their two children, contracted Ebola while working with patients in Liberia. He and his family chose to stay in the country even after Ebola began to spread . Hopeful: A sign at Southside Church of Christ in Fort Worth, Texas offers support for Dr Brantly. There is only a 10 per cent survival rate for people who become infected with the incurable disease . Nearly 700 people have been killed by Ebola in West Africa, with 127 of those in Liberia, according to the World Health Organization, but the families of the Americans hope prayers will pull them through. Brave: Dr Brantly has said that he is putting his trust in God to help him defeat the Ebola virus . Speaking . from her home in Indianapolis, Indiana, Dr Brantly's mother Jan, 72, said she was in . 'daily contact' with her son's wife, Amber, and that she was praying . for them both. She . said: 'It's a very very stressful time. Kent is a fine young man, very . compassionate, doing what he’s prepared all his life to do. 'He’s placed his life in the hands of a loving God and our love in that God sustains us. 'We pray constantly for him and we solicit the prayer of the whole world. He's a brave man. He's doing what he's doing to serve his God and we are asking people to pray.' Outside of Brantley's church, a sign reads: 'Pray for Kent.' Infected: Nancy Writebol, pictured with her husband David, also became infected while working in Liberia . Brantly, who has been working . as medical director for an Ebola case management center run by . Samaritan's Purse, recognized that he had symptoms associated with Ebola . last week, Melissa Strickland, a spokeswoman for the North . Carolina-based charity, told the Dallas Morning News. The virus can go unnoticed for three weeks and . kills 90 per cent of those infected. Health workers are at serious risk . of contracting the disease, which spreads through contact with bodily . fluids. There . is no known cure for Ebola, which begins with symptoms including fever . and sore throat and escalates to vomiting, diarrhea and internal and . external bleeding. Brantly, . who had meticulously adhered to protocols when treating patients, . immediately isolated himself when he recognized the symptoms and . notified team members, Strickland said. He is now . being treated in an isolation center at a Liberian hospital and is in . stable condition. He is sitting up and working on his computer, . Strickland said. Cautious: Dr Brantly of Samaritan's . Purse relief organization is shown wearing protective clothing as he . works with Ebola patients in Liberia. Brantly is also being treated . after somehow becoming infected with the virus . At work: An image shows Brantly, left, wearing protective clothing and caring for patients in Monrovia . 'His fever . is fluctuating,' she said. 'He has some aches and pains... He's a very . dedicated person and a very strong person, and he’s fighting as we'd . expect someone like him to fight.' His . family, who had moved to Liberia with him, had returned to the U.S. for . a pre-planned trip last week, before he found out about his condition. They have shown no signs of the disease. MailOnline understands that his wife is not at their home in Fort Worth, Texas, but is elsewhere and staying with family. Before . heading to Liberia, Brantly, who graduated medical school in Indiana in . 2009, had worked as a resident at John Peter Smith Hospital, and he . completed his three year placement last year. Throughout . the residency, he and his wife managed to save money and pay off his . student debts so that they could head to Africa to become international . medical missionaries last October. They went to Liberia . as part of a two-year fellowship with Samaritan's Purse. 'The . caliber of a person like that who says, "I'm going Africa, I'm going to . where people need me the most," it really speaks to you,' Robert . Earley, president and CEO of JPS Health Network, said Sunday, NBC reported. 'It speaks . to your heart.' Safe: Dr Brantly's wife and children went on a trip back to the U.S. before he started showing symptoms . Missed: Brantly and Writebol, right, are both in isolation, which is devastating for their families, friends said . Aparna . Raj Parikh, who had attended medical school with him, told the Dallas . News that he wasn't surprised that Brantly had put himself in danger to . help others. Photos of Brantly working in Liberia show . him in white coveralls made of a synthetic material that he wore for . hours a day while treating Ebola patients. Writebol . had moved to Liberia with her husband. She worked as a hygienist, . spraying protective suits worn by health care workers treating Ebola . patients in Monrovia, the Charlotte Observer reported. Writebol . and her husband David are not medical personnel, but rather Christian . missionaries with 15 years experience serving disease and . poverty-stricken third world nations. Originally . from Charlotte, North Carolina, the couple raised two sons before . moving overseas, first to Ecuador and Zambia before moving to Liberia. 'It's . just devastating news,' her pastor, Reverend John Munro, said. He . described the couple as religious, humble people who were desperate to . stay and help despite the congregation's fears. Taking care: Medical staff working with Medecins sans Frontieres prepare to bring food to patients kept in an isolation area at the MSF Ebola treatment centre in Kailahun in Sierra Leone . Caution: Sierra Leone now has the highest number of Ebola cases, at 454. The outbreak started in Guinea . Her husband, David, delivered the terrible news to the congregation over Skype, he said. 'He's . devastated,' Munro said. 'He can't really be with his wife. She’s in . isolation. Ebola is very contagious. She's not doing well. It's grim . news.' The outbreak started in Guinea in February and spread to neighboring Liberia and Sierra Leone in weeks. Dr. Samuel . Brisbane on Sunday became the first Liberian doctor to die in an . outbreak the World Health Organization says. A Ugandan doctor working in . the country died earlier this month. Brisbane, . who once served as a medical adviser to former Liberian President . Charles Taylor, was working as a consultant with the internal medicine . unit at the country's largest hospital, the John F. Kennedy Memorial . Medical Center in Monrovia. After . falling ill with Ebola, he was taken to a treatment center on the . outskirts of the capital, where he died, said Tolbert Nyenswah, an . assistant health minister. The current outbreak of Ebola has spread to at least four countries in West Africa since the start of the year. So far, it has claimed 672 victims, and infected 1,093. Countries affected include Liberia, Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Nigeria. The disease spreads through contact with blood, body fluids or contact with tissue from infected people or animals. It has only a 10 per cent survival rate. Civil . servant Patrick Sawyer collapsed at Lagos airport in Nigeria on July 20 . after flying in from Liberia, where he had attended the funeral of his . sister, who had also succumbed to the disease. His plane also landed in Togo on its way to Nigeria, prompting fears that the virus may have also reached a fifth country. Professor . Hugh Pennington, emeritus professor of bacteriology at the University . of Aberdeen, said: ‘If the disease gets going in Nigeria it would be . cause for concern. ‘Nigeria has close links with the UK and many other countries.’ Nigeria, . Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone are now screening air passengers – but . doctors say this may not be effective because Ebola has an incubation . period of two to 21 days and cannot be diagnosed on the spot. Symptoms . include high fever, bleeding and damage to the nervous system. There is . no vaccine or cure. It is spread by contact with infected blood or . other bodily fluids. All outbreaks since 1976 when Ebola was first identified have been in Africa, with the previous highest death toll being 280. Unprecedented: The outbreak has spread to Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia and has now killed a man in far more densely populated Nigeria. The outbreak is the deadliest ever of the terrifying disease as the death toll crept past 700 . As . the death toll continues to rise in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone, a . fourth African country was alerted over the weekend to their own case . of Ebola: the far more densely populated nation of Nigeria. Nigerian . health authorities raced to stop the spread of Ebola on Saturday after a . man sick with one of the world's deadliest diseases brought it by plane . to Lagos, Africa's largest city with 21 million people. The . fact that the traveler from Liberia could board an international flight . also raised new fears that other passengers could take the disease . beyond Africa due to weak inspection of passengers and the fact Ebola's . symptoms are similar to other diseases. Nigerian . officials say a Liberian man died of Ebola in a Lagos hospital Friday . after arriving in the country on Tuesday. It is the first case of Ebola . to be confirmed in Nigeria since the current outbreak began in West . Africa earlier this year. Nigerian . Health Minister Onyebuchi Chukwu said all ports of entry in the country . are now on 'red alert' and health officials are investigating all . people who had contact with the deceased.
American doctor and dad-of-two Kent Brantly was treating Ebola patients in Monrovia, Liberia when he recognized he had the symptoms .
Then another U.S. aid worker, Nancy Writebol, from Charlotte, North Carolina, tested positive for the incurable disease .
They are in isolation as they try to battle the virus, which causes people to bleed internally and from the skin and kills 90 per cent of victims .
Nearly 700 people have been killed by the virus in West Africa .
Two high profile Ebola researchers from Sierra Leone and Liberia have also caught the illness - one died Sunday .
The American doctor diagnosed with the deadly Ebola virus in Liberia says he will have no regrets if he cannot be saved, a friend revealed today. Kent Smith, . an elder at the South Central Alliance Churches in Fort Worth, Texas, . where Kent Brantly and his wife Amber worship, told MailOnline that the doctor has been frank . with friends. 'God's going to deliver me from this . but even if he doesn't I have lived my life for him and I have no . regrets,' he has said, Mr Smith told MailOnline. Dr Brantly, a 33-year-old father of two, is one of two Americans fighting for their lives. Married . missionary Nancy Writebol, from Charlotte, North Carolina, is also fighting for her life at a Liberian hospital as the continent struggles . against the worst ever outbreak in history. Devoted: Kent Brantly, pictured with his wife Amber and their two children, contracted Ebola while working with patients in Liberia. He and his family chose to stay in the country even after Ebola began to spread . Hopeful: A sign at Southside Church of Christ in Fort Worth, Texas offers support for Dr Brantly. There is only a 10 per cent survival rate for people who become infected with the incurable disease . Nearly 700 people have been killed by Ebola in West Africa, with 127 of those in Liberia, according to the World Health Organization, but the families of the Americans hope prayers will pull them through. Brave: Dr Brantly has said that he is putting his trust in God to help him defeat the Ebola virus . Speaking . from her home in Indianapolis, Indiana, Dr Brantly's mother Jan, 72, said she was in . 'daily contact' with her son's wife, Amber, and that she was praying . for them both. She . said: 'It's a very very stressful time. Kent is a fine young man, very . compassionate, doing what he’s prepared all his life to do. 'He’s placed his life in the hands of a loving God and our love in that God sustains us. 'We pray constantly for him and we solicit the prayer of the whole world. He's a brave man. He's doing what he's doing to serve his God and we are asking people to pray.' Outside of Brantley's church, a sign reads: 'Pray for Kent.' Infected: Nancy Writebol, pictured with her husband David, also became infected while working in Liberia . Brantly, who has been working . as medical director for an Ebola case management center run by . Samaritan's Purse, recognized that he had symptoms associated with Ebola . last week, Melissa Strickland, a spokeswoman for the North . Carolina-based charity, told the Dallas Morning News. The virus can go unnoticed for three weeks and . kills 90 per cent of those infected. Health workers are at serious risk . of contracting the disease, which spreads through contact with bodily . fluids. There . is no known cure for Ebola, which begins with symptoms including fever . and sore throat and escalates to vomiting, diarrhea and internal and . external bleeding. Brantly, . who had meticulously adhered to protocols when treating patients, . immediately isolated himself when he recognized the symptoms and . notified team members, Strickland said. He is now . being treated in an isolation center at a Liberian hospital and is in . stable condition. He is sitting up and working on his computer, . Strickland said. Cautious: Dr Brantly of Samaritan's . Purse relief organization is shown wearing protective clothing as he . works with Ebola patients in Liberia. Brantly is also being treated . after somehow becoming infected with the virus . At work: An image shows Brantly, left, wearing protective clothing and caring for patients in Monrovia . 'His fever . is fluctuating,' she said. 'He has some aches and pains... He's a very . dedicated person and a very strong person, and he’s fighting as we'd . expect someone like him to fight.' His . family, who had moved to Liberia with him, had returned to the U.S. for . a pre-planned trip last week, before he found out about his condition. They have shown no signs of the disease. MailOnline understands that his wife is not at their home in Fort Worth, Texas, but is elsewhere and staying with family. Before . heading to Liberia, Brantly, who graduated medical school in Indiana in . 2009, had worked as a resident at John Peter Smith Hospital, and he . completed his three year placement last year. Throughout . the residency, he and his wife managed to save money and pay off his . student debts so that they could head to Africa to become international . medical missionaries last October. They went to Liberia . as part of a two-year fellowship with Samaritan's Purse. 'The . caliber of a person like that who says, "I'm going Africa, I'm going to . where people need me the most," it really speaks to you,' Robert . Earley, president and CEO of JPS Health Network, said Sunday, NBC reported. 'It speaks . to your heart.' Safe: Dr Brantly's wife and children went on a trip back to the U.S. before he started showing symptoms . Missed: Brantly and Writebol, right, are both in isolation, which is devastating for their families, friends said . Aparna . Raj Parikh, who had attended medical school with him, told the Dallas . News that he wasn't surprised that Brantly had put himself in danger to . help others. Photos of Brantly working in Liberia show . him in white coveralls made of a synthetic material that he wore for . hours a day while treating Ebola patients. Writebol . had moved to Liberia with her husband. She worked as a hygienist, . spraying protective suits worn by health care workers treating Ebola . patients in Monrovia, the Charlotte Observer reported. Writebol . and her husband David are not medical personnel, but rather Christian . missionaries with 15 years experience serving disease and . poverty-stricken third world nations. Originally . from Charlotte, North Carolina, the couple raised two sons before . moving overseas, first to Ecuador and Zambia before moving to Liberia. 'It's . just devastating news,' her pastor, Reverend John Munro, said. He . described the couple as religious, humble people who were desperate to . stay and help despite the congregation's fears. Taking care: Medical staff working with Medecins sans Frontieres prepare to bring food to patients kept in an isolation area at the MSF Ebola treatment centre in Kailahun in Sierra Leone . Caution: Sierra Leone now has the highest number of Ebola cases, at 454. The outbreak started in Guinea . Her husband, David, delivered the terrible news to the congregation over Skype, he said. 'He's . devastated,' Munro said. 'He can't really be with his wife. She’s in . isolation. Ebola is very contagious. She's not doing well. It's grim . news.' The outbreak started in Guinea in February and spread to neighboring Liberia and Sierra Leone in weeks. Dr. Samuel . Brisbane on Sunday became the first Liberian doctor to die in an . outbreak the World Health Organization says. A Ugandan doctor working in . the country died earlier this month. Brisbane, . who once served as a medical adviser to former Liberian President . Charles Taylor, was working as a consultant with the internal medicine . unit at the country's largest hospital, the John F. Kennedy Memorial . Medical Center in Monrovia. After . falling ill with Ebola, he was taken to a treatment center on the . outskirts of the capital, where he died, said Tolbert Nyenswah, an . assistant health minister. The current outbreak of Ebola has spread to at least four countries in West Africa since the start of the year. So far, it has claimed 672 victims, and infected 1,093. Countries affected include Liberia, Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Nigeria. The disease spreads through contact with blood, body fluids or contact with tissue from infected people or animals. It has only a 10 per cent survival rate. Civil . servant Patrick Sawyer collapsed at Lagos airport in Nigeria on July 20 . after flying in from Liberia, where he had attended the funeral of his . sister, who had also succumbed to the disease. His plane also landed in Togo on its way to Nigeria, prompting fears that the virus may have also reached a fifth country. Professor . Hugh Pennington, emeritus professor of bacteriology at the University . of Aberdeen, said: ‘If the disease gets going in Nigeria it would be . cause for concern. ‘Nigeria has close links with the UK and many other countries.’ Nigeria, . Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone are now screening air passengers – but . doctors say this may not be effective because Ebola has an incubation . period of two to 21 days and cannot be diagnosed on the spot. Symptoms . include high fever, bleeding and damage to the nervous system. There is . no vaccine or cure. It is spread by contact with infected blood or . other bodily fluids. All outbreaks since 1976 when Ebola was first identified have been in Africa, with the previous highest death toll being 280. Unprecedented: The outbreak has spread to Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia and has now killed a man in far more densely populated Nigeria. The outbreak is the deadliest ever of the terrifying disease as the death toll crept past 700 . As . the death toll continues to rise in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone, a . fourth African country was alerted over the weekend to their own case . of Ebola: the far more densely populated nation of Nigeria. Nigerian . health authorities raced to stop the spread of Ebola on Saturday after a . man sick with one of the world's deadliest diseases brought it by plane . to Lagos, Africa's largest city with 21 million people. The . fact that the traveler from Liberia could board an international flight . also raised new fears that other passengers could take the disease . beyond Africa due to weak inspection of passengers and the fact Ebola's . symptoms are similar to other diseases. Nigerian . officials say a Liberian man died of Ebola in a Lagos hospital Friday . after arriving in the country on Tuesday. It is the first case of Ebola . to be confirmed in Nigeria since the current outbreak began in West . Africa earlier this year. Nigerian . Health Minister Onyebuchi Chukwu said all ports of entry in the country . are now on 'red alert' and health officials are investigating all . people who had contact with the deceased.
The American doctor diagnosed with the deadly missionary Nancy Writebol, from Charlotte, North Devoted: Kent Brantly, pictured with his wife infected with the incurable disease . Nearly 700 people have been killed by Ebola in West Africa, that he had symptoms associated with Ebola . last three weeks and . kills 90 per cent of those to protocols when treating patients, . immediately isolated himself when he recognized as he . works with Ebola patients in Liberia. clothing and caring for patients in Monrovia . right, are both in isolation, which is Sierra Leone, and Nigeria. The disease spreads