A Worcester doctor who recently recovered from Ebola is returning to Liberia to support health care workers still caring for patients with the disease.

Richard Sacra says he thinks he’s the first doctor to return to west Africa after recovering from Ebola.
 
“I guess I’m less nervous about this trip because I know what I’m getting into a little more and also because I’ve had – the thing I was afraid of last time, I’ve had it, and thank God I’m through it.”
 
As an Ebola survivor, Sacra’s now supposed to be immune to the disease. He says he still isn’t going to take any chances, but…
 
" I may be the go-to guy for unknown risky-looking patients (…) but whatever role I can serve, I’m happy to do that.”
 
Sacra’s going to be working at a missionary hospital just outside of Monrovia for about three and a half weeks. He’s taking medicines, gowns, gloves, and lab equipment with him.
 
The number of people infected with Ebola has dropped dramatically in recent weeks from a peak of in the hundreds. In the three weeks ending Jan 5, Liberia reported 70 Ebola cases. About four of every 10 patients survive.
 
And recovery isn’t easy. Sacra was discharged from a Nebraska medical center in September. He was readmitted to a Boston hospital the following month with a cough and fever. Sacra tested negative for Ebola, but had trouble with the vision in his left eye, and needed physical therapy to regain his strength.
 
Still, Sacra’s wife, Debbie, says she didn’t object to his return to West Africa. She says Sacra has been up front about being a missionary doctor since they were married 30 years ago.
 
"Ever since he got out of the hospital he’s been saying he’d be going back to Liberia, so this probably didn’t come as a big surprise to anyone.”
 
Sacra says Africa still faces challenges in testing new Ebola treatments and vaccines. The medicine that cured him has to be stored in deep freeze, making transportation difficult, so Sacra says people are hoping a tablet version will be also be effective. But he’s worried people will become complacent as the number of Ebola patients continues to drop.
 
“Even after Ebola is finished in west Africa, if we don’t continue to be very strategic about strengthening the health system there, then they’ll be vulnerable to another epidemic, whether it’s Ebola or whether it’s some other disease.”
 
To that end, Sacra says he hopes to return to west Africa again in the future to help train medical students.