Nina Pham, a nurse from Texas, was the first person to contract the virus within the United States.

This is believed to have happened when she was nursing Thomas Duncan, who subsequently died.

Now declared free of Ebola after five negative test results, Ms Pham gave thanks to God and to all who prayed for her.

"I feel fortunate and blessed to be standing here today," Ms Pham said in a press conference on October24.

"I would first and foremost like to thank God, my family and friends. Throughout this ordeal, I have put my trust in God and my medical team."

Her friends have described Ms Pham as a devout Catholic.

She also thanked fellow survivor Dr Kent Brantly for donating his blood plasma for her treatment.

Ms Pham called his donation a "selfless act".

"I believe in the power of prayer because I know so many people all over the world have been praying for me," she continued.

"I join you in prayer now for the recovery of others."

Ms Pham thanked everyone who had been involved in her care, both in Texas and in Maryland at the National Institutes of Health.

Dr Anthony Fauci, from the National Institutes of Health, said it wasn't clear which treatment saved Ms Pham because they were all experimental.

Before returning to her "normal life" in Texas, Ms Pham received a bear hug from President Barack Obama in the Oval Office in Washington.

Ebola continues to devastate parts of west Africa.

The World Health Organisation said that nearly 5000 deaths had been reported as of October 19, but the true numbers could be as high as 15,000.

Sources

• Catholic News Agency
• ABC
• Image: ABC

Fort Worth diocese is near Dallas, where three Ebola cases have been diagnosed.

The guidelines include not taking the Blood of Christ at Mass and the faithful not holding hands while praying the Our Father.

The Sign of Peace should not involve physical contact, but some other gesture, the guidelines added.

Priests should use an alcohol-based solution on their hands before and after distributing Holy Communion.

Priests should not distribute Communion if they feel ill, and should discourage parishioners who feel sick from coming to church.

Such restrictions are common during flu season, the diocese emphasised.

But the guidelines did make mention of Ebola.

The US federal government is trying to include faith communities in its efforts to prevent the spread of Ebola, inviting them to join in a conference call on Saturday with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The Diocese of Dallas has not issued similar guidelines to Fort Worth's, but Ebola is much on Bishop Kevin Farrell's mind.

He offered prayers for the health care workers grappling with Ebola, expressed confidence in local health care authorities and wrote that "this is a time for our community to respond with calmness and compassion".

Meanwhile, Catholic nurse Nina Pham, the first person to contract Ebola within the US, has received blood serum from a survivor.

A priest at Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Church in Fort Worth said Ms Pham's mother told him she has seen and spoken to her daughter using Skype, and that she is in good spirits.

Authorities do not know how Ms Pham contracted the disease, as she is believed to have followed hospital protocols in treating an Ebola patient, who since died.

Sources

• Religion News Service
• Star Telegram
• Image: Real Clear