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Family of Dallas nurse Amber Vinson says she's free of Ebola

"Amber and our family are ecstatic to receive this latest report on her condition," said Debra Berry.

By Brooks Hays

DALLAS, Oct. 23 (UPI) -- According to a statement released Wednesday by the family of Amber Vinson, the Dallas nurse is now free of the Ebola virus. Vinson's mother, Debra Berry, was able to speak with her daughter, who was transferred to Atlanta's Emory University Hospital last week after being diagnosed with the deadly disease in Dallas.

Berry said doctors in Atlanta have determined there are no traces of the virus in Vinson's blood, though there has been no official statement on the matter released by the hospital or the CDC. She remains in treatment at the Atlanta hospital.

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"Amber and our family are ecstatic to receive this latest report on her condition," Berry said in a released statement. "We all know that further treatment will be necessary as Amber continues to regain strength, but these developments have truly answered prayers and bring our family one step closer to reuniting with her at home."

The 29-year-old is the second of two nurses who were diagnosed with Ebola after treating Thomas Eric Duncan, the first person to be diagnosed with the disease in America. The other nurse to become infected with the virus, 26-year-old Nina Pham, is being treated at a CDC facility in Bethesda, Maryland. Her condition was upgraded to "good" on Tuesday.

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Both nurses drew blood and changed catheters in Duncan's arms while administering treatment at the hospital in Dallas. So far, none of the other caretakers who treated Duncan have tested positive for Ebola.

The positive news comes only a day after it was announced freelance cameraman Ashoka Mukpo had recovered from the disease and would be soon discharged from the hospital in Nebraska where he's been treated for the last three weeks.

So far, Duncan is the only one of the eight patients treated in the U.S. to die of the disease. Those infected in West Africa are faring far worse, with more than 4,500 people having died from the disease in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

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