An American doctor who contracted Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has been transported to Germany for treatment, accompanied by his wife and four children who are being monitored for symptoms. The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned of the “scale and speed” of the outbreak, which has resulted in at least 134 suspected deaths and over 500 cases of the Bundibugyo virus.
Dr Peter Stafford, a surgeon and leader of the Christian missionary group Serge, unknowingly operated on a patient with Ebola before the outbreak was detected. He was barely able to stand when he departed for Germany, according to Dr Scott Myhre, area director for Serge. Stafford worked at Nyankunde hospital in Ituri province, where the outbreak was first confirmed.
The patient, a 33-year-old with severe abdominal pain, was initially thought to have a gallbladder infection. Stafford performed surgery but found the gallbladder normal; the patient died the next day and was buried before being tested for Ebola. Stafford later developed symptoms and tested positive on Sunday, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The WHO reported over 600 suspected cases and 139 suspected deaths, mostly in the DRC, with two cases and one suspected death in Uganda. The risk of a global pandemic is very low, but the threat to regional countries is severe. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus expects numbers to rise, noting the epidemic's scale is larger than reported.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio criticised the WHO's response as “a little late”, but Tedros countered, suggesting a lack of understanding of International Health Regulations. The outbreak has been declared a public health emergency requiring international response, with no approved treatments or vaccines for the virus.
