A US national infected with Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has arrived in Germany for treatment, the German health ministry confirmed on Monday. The patient, a humanitarian worker in his 60s, was flown to Frankfurt and transferred to the city’s university hospital for specialised care.
The World Health Organization said the man, who worked as a warehouse manager for the Christian aid group Samaritan’s Purse, had been in Bunia, the capital of Ituri province. Ituri is the epicentre of the DRC’s 17th Ebola outbreak, declared in mid-May.
The outbreak is caused by the Bundibugyo strain of the virus, for which there is no approved vaccine or cure. According to the WHO, there have been more than 1,900 confirmed cases and over 700 confirmed deaths since the outbreak began.
The German health ministry stressed that the patient poses “no danger for the general population or for other patients”, noting that the risk of an infected person entering Germany is very low. US authorities requested German assistance due to the country’s expertise in treating Ebola and the shorter flight time from the DRC.
Meanwhile, the Trump administration has barred Americans in the DRC from travelling to the United States on commercial flights. Under a transportation authority known as Title 49, US citizens in the DRC or those who have recently left will be placed on a “do-not-board” list until they have spent at least 21 days in a third country. The US State Department will support affected Americans during the waiting period.
Ebola spreads through direct contact with bodily fluids and can cause symptoms including high fever, vomiting, and internal and external bleeding. This is the second US Ebola patient to be treated in Germany this year; another was quarantined at Berlin’s Charité hospital in May.
