"These are high-intensity patients," he told the standing-room-only-crowd attending ID Week at the Convention Center. Without naming his patients, Kent Brantly and Nancy Writebol, who contracted the disease in Liberia, Ribner spoke of their suffering with compassion. For days after they arrived at Emory for care, each of them was losing up to 10 liters of fluid a day, more than 2 1/2 gallons. "This is an enormous amount and a truly Herculean effort to keep up with."