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A doctor in New York City who was diagnosed with Ebola received a plasma transfusion from Nancy Writebol, an aid worker who contracted the deadly disease in Africa and survived.

Dr. Craig Spencer, who recently returned from treating Ebola patients in Africa with Doctors Without Borders and was diagnosed in New York Thursday, received the transfusion at Manhattan’s Bellevue Hospital Friday, the hospital said in a statement. The Christian organization that Writebol worked with, SIM, confirmed the donation Saturday.

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"I am praying for Dr. Spencer's recovery and am happy to be able to donate blood," Writebol said.

Transfusions of blood from survivors have been used to help treat Ebola patients Ashoka Mukpo and Dr. Rick Sacra, both of whom recovered from the disease which has killed more than 4,900 people in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone.

Bellevue said Saturday that Spencer, 33, is “entering the next phase of his illness” as expected, which is the appearance of gastrointestinal symptoms, but said he was awake and communicating. His fiancée was placed in the hospital after Spencer was diagnosed, but she was to return home Saturday evening where she will remain under quarantine.

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— Phil Helsel