A US national who contracted Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has arrived in Germany for treatment, the German health ministry said on Monday. The patient, a humanitarian worker in his 60s, was flown to Frankfurt and transferred to the city's university hospital.
Details of the Patient and Outbreak
The head of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said the man was a humanitarian worker who had been in Bunia, capital of Ituri province in northeastern DRC. Ituri is the epicenter of an Ebola outbreak declared in mid-May, the country's 17th. The outbreak is caused by the Bundibugyo strain, for which there is no vaccine or cure. According to the WHO, there have been over 1,900 confirmed cases and more than 700 confirmed deaths.
An official from the Christian aid group Samaritan's Purse confirmed the patient was a full-time warehouse manager for the organization in the DRC. The WHO provided clinical care and close monitoring before the transfer. Tedros stated on X: "The patient has been safely transferred to Germany for continued follow-up care."
German Response and Expertise
The German health ministry emphasized that the patient poses "no danger for the general population or for other patients" in the Frankfurt hospital. "The risk of someone infected with Ebola entering Germany is very low," the ministry added. US authorities requested Germany's help due to its expertise in treating Ebola and the shorter flight time from the DRC to Germany compared to the US.
This is the second US Ebola patient treated in Germany recently. Another American with the virus was quarantined at Berlin's Charité hospital in late May and recovered after two weeks of treatment.
US Travel Restrictions
On Monday, the Trump administration announced it was blocking American citizens in the DRC from traveling to the US on commercial flights, according to Reuters, citing a White House official. The measure uses a transportation authority known as Title 49, placing US citizens in the DRC or those who recently left on a "do-not-board" list until they spend at least 21 days in a third country. About two dozen Americans were set to board flights to the US on Tuesday after traveling to the DRC, Reuters reported. The US State Department will support affected citizens during the waiting period.
Ebola spreads through direct contact with bodily fluids from infected people or animals. The often fatal viral disease causes symptoms including high fever, vomiting, and internal and external bleeding.
