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 (CDC) said in a statement on Friday. The confirmed US citizen Ebola DRC case marks the latest instance of the virus reaching an American national during the country’s ongoing outbreak.
The CDC said it is working with the patient’s employing organisation, 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.
Outbreak Continues to Grow in the DRC
The number of confirmed Ebola cases in the DRC has increased to 1,830, including 648 deaths, according to government data released late Friday and reported by Reuters.
No Ebola cases have been confirmed within the United States, and the CDC says the overall risk to the American public and travellers remains low. According to the latest data published on the CDC’s website, the outbreak remains confined to remote areas of the DRC and neighbouring Uganda, and the risk of it spreading to the US is considered very low.
An Earlier American Case: The Stafford Family
This is not the first time an American has contracted Ebola during this outbreak. In May, the international charity Serge reported that American Christian missionary physician Dr. Peter Stafford had tested positive after presenting symptoms consistent with the virus.
His wife, Dr. Rebekah Stafford, another physician who was treating patients in the DRC when the outbreak began, and the Staffords’ four children, all under age seven, were monitored for signs of the virus, according to the charity. The family, who had lived in the DRC since 2021, was evacuated to Berlin, Germany, where Stafford was quarantined and treated in hospital.
“That was a difficult time,” Stafford 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 mobilise to help her husband, while also aware that their Congolese friends would not receive the same level of care. Despite the ordeal, she said their children are doing really well. She recalled their oldest son telling his siblings, “hey guys, your dad has Ebola,” as she explained to the children that they could not touch him, enter his room, or be certain he would recover.
First Case Outside Africa Reported Last Month
Last month, the first case of Ebola outside Africa was reported during what has become the second-largest outbreak on record in the DRC. That patient, also a humanitarian worker, tested positive in France after returning home from a mission in the DRC, according to the French Health Ministry.
