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Charlotte Ebola survivor hopes to raise awareness of disease

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — There's hope coming out of the Ebola hot zone: The Centers for Disease Control says the outbreak in Nigeria may be contained.
                               
The deadly disease continues to spread in other countries, claiming thousands of lives.

Read more:  Officials confirm first Ebola case diagnosed in US

Survivor Nancy Writebol and her husband said they want to go back and help with the crisis in Africa.

Nancy Writebol and David Writebol became known after Nancy Writebol contracted Ebola while working with Charlotte-based missionary group SIM in Liberia.

Read more:  Charlotte Ebola survivor hopes to raise awareness of disease

"I've read enough commentary on what people are saying (about what it's like in Africa) that they don't really understand unless you've been there and been on the ground," Nancy Writebol said.
 
In the month they were there, 39 of the 40 Ebola patients they saw died.
 
"It's very painful to watch people with Ebola die," Nancy Writebol said.
 
The disease has so far taken the lives of 3,091 people, mostly in West Africa.

Read more:  Fmr. Ebola patient delivers testimony before Senate committee
 
Although the Writebols are home in Charlotte, their hearts are in Africa.
 
"You just can't turn it off. It's just something that is continually on our thoughts and in our minds, in our prayers," Nancy Writebol said.
 
The couple is hopeful about the future, grateful to see the research that's being done on Ebola. 
 
Nancy Writebol said she is part of a study. 
 
"My study is more about how long immunity might be good. I mean, there's so much that's not known about Ebola," she said.

WATCH: Dr. Richard Besser discusses concerns over Ebola 

The couple says Nancy Writebol's Ebola diagnosis was the most trying experience in their 40 years of marriage.
 
In their faith, they believe it happened for a reason.
 
"If it raised a level of awareness for Africa, then I'm grateful for how God used that," she said.
 
Nancy Writebol is still on medication and getting physically stronger each day, but her heart aches for the African people devastated by the disease.
 
A patient in Dallas is in strict isolation Tuesday night after showing signs of the deadly Ebola virus. CDC confirmed he had Ebola on Tuesday.

The Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas said the patient was admitted based on symptoms and recent travel history.