Terrified citizens in Atlanta, Georgia try to keep their fear in check as two Americans infected with the virulent strain of the deadly Ebola virus arrive at the Emory University Hospital in the city for quarantine and care.

In deference to the American public's fears Ebola could spread like wildfire in the U.S., health authorities have not identified the first Ebola victim that will arrive at Emory on Aug. 2. The second American victim will arrive a few days later.

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This first person to be hospitalized at Emory could either be Dr. Kent Brantly or missionary Nancy Writebol.

Samaritan's Purse, the aid group that sent Dr. Brantly to Liberia where the doctor contracted the deadly disease, sent an air ambulance to Liberia to fly both Americans home.

Writebol was working alongside Brantly taking care of Ebola victims when she became infected.

Dr. Brantly and Writebol have been cleared to travel by medical staff that examined them. The air ambulance will make two trips, delivering the patients separately.

The stricken Americans will be taken to Emory in a specially outfitted ambulance with a tent-like enclosure inside to ensure medical staff traveling with the victims are protected from Ebola.

Emory is a 587-bed facility specializing in the care of the acutely ill adults. It is staffed exclusively by faculty of the Emory University School of Medicine.

The hospital is renowned as one of the nation's leaders in cardiology and cardiac surgery, oncology, transplantation and the neurosciences.

Dr. Brantly and Writebol will be quarantined at the hospital's isolation ward, which is virtually air tight to prevent the spread of the virus. They will see visitors only through a plate-glass window and speak to them using an intercom system.

Each patient will be cared for by a team consisting of infectious disease doctors, other specialists and nurses.

All medical staff that deal with them will wear masks, gloves, hoods and an outer shell over their clothing to protect them from vomit, saliva and other bodily fluids that can spread the virus.

Despite these measures to ensure Ebola does not break-out of Emory, some Atlantans have complained to media about why the infected Americans have to live in their city.

Despite such reassurances, some Atlantans said they were uncomfortable with the idea of Ebola patients being treated in their hometown.

One worried Atlantan believes the stricken Americans shouldn't even have been let across the border in the first place.

The Centers for Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said some Americans' fears that Ebola might rampage across the U.S. are overblown.

"It is not a potential of Ebola spreading widely in the U.S. That is not in the cards," said CDC director Dr. Thomas Frieden.

"This is a tragic, painful, dreadful, merciless virus. It is the largest, most complex outbreak that we know of in history," Dr. Frieden said.

"We at CDC are surging our response along with others. Although it will not be quick and it will not be easy, we do know how to stop Ebola."

Dr. Frieden reassures Americans that health authorities have quarantine stations at all the major ports of entry.

He emphasizes that people cannot transmit Ebola to others unless they are sick, "and Ebola makes you so sick that it's pretty obvious pretty quickly."

"Ebola poses little risk to the U.S. general population," Dr. Frieden said.

"Ebola is spread as people get sicker and sicker. They have fever and may develop serious symptoms."

He noted that Ebola doesn't spread through the air like the common cold.

People who get sick from Ebola are usually family members or healthcare workers in prolonged and close contact with victims.

Ebola has infected 1,323 people and killed 729 in the current outbreak that centers on Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone.

The World Health Organization said the outbreak is still out of control in some places and announced a US$100 million plan for stepping up efforts to fight the virus.

There is no cure for Ebola but the National Institutes of Health is testing a vaccine on animals that could go to human trials this fall.