US citizen working in DRC tests positive for Ebola
(CNN) — A US citizen working for a humanitarian group in the Democratic Republic of Congo has tested positive for the Bundibugyo strain of the Ebola virus, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a statement on Friday.
The CDC said it is working with the patient’s employing organization, other federal agencies and partners in the DRC to help prevent further transmission and identify high-risk contacts.
No other details have been released about the patient. CNN has reached out to the CDC and the State Department for comment.
The number of confirmed Ebola cases in the DRC has increased to 1,830 including 648 deaths, government data showed late on Friday, Reuters reported.
No Ebola cases have been confirmed in the United States and “the overall risk to the American public and travelers remains low,” according to the latest data published Saturday on the CDC website. The outbreak remains confined to remote areas of the DRC and neighboring Uganda, and the risk of it spreading to the US is “considered very low,” it said.
In May, the international charity Serge reported that an American Christian missionary physician – Dr. Peter Stafford – had “tested positive” after “presenting symptoms consistent with the virus.”
His wife, Dr. Rebekah Stafford and another physician, who were treating patients in the DRC when the outbreak began, as well as the Staffords’ four children – all aged under seven – were monitored for signs of the virus, the charity said.
The family, who had been living in DRC since 2021, was evacuated to Berlin, Germany, where Stafford was quarantined and treated in hospital.
“That was a difficult time,” he said in an exclusive CNN interview after his recovery. “I had a high fever, I had weakness, at times too difficult even to walk on my own.”
Rebekah Stafford recalled feeling overwhelmed as she watched global efforts mobilize to help her husband, also aware that their Congolese friends wouldn’t receive the same level of care.
Despite their ordeal, she said their children are “doing really well.”
“Our oldest son definitely understood, telling our kids ‘hey guys, your dad has Ebola,’” she said, recalling having to explain that they couldn’t touch him, go in his room or be sure he would recover.
Last month, the first case of Ebola outside Africa was reported during the second largest outbreak on record in the DRC.
The patient, also a humanitarian worker, tested positive in France after returning home from a mission in the DRC, the French Health Ministry said.
This was the first reported case in France.
The-CNN-Wire
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