US doctor infected with Ebola in Congo evacuated to Germany for treatment; family placed under isolation

BERLIN, May 21 — A US doctor who contracted Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo has been admitted to a hospital in Germany, with his family also set to be placed in isolation as contact cases, health officials told AFP yesterday.

The patient, identified as 39-year-old medical missionary Dr Peter Stafford, arrived in Germany in the early hours of yesterday after US authorities requested assistance from Berlin.

The German health ministry said Stafford’s wife and their four children would also be admitted to the isolation ward at Berlin’s Charité hospital.

“After a US citizen infected with Ebola arrived in Berlin this morning for treatment, US authorities have requested assistance in admitting his family members,” the ministry said.

In a subsequent update, it confirmed that all five family members would be taken to the hospital’s specialised isolation unit, while declining to comment on Stafford’s condition and confirming the relatives are being treated as contact cases.

According to Christian missionary organisation Serge, Stafford lives in the DRC with his wife Rebekah, also a doctor, and their children. The group said Stafford and another physician, Patrick LaRochelle, had left the country and were en route to locations where they could be monitored under close medical supervision.

Serge added that Stafford was exposed while treating patients before a deadly outbreak was identified at a hospital in Bunia, where he had worked since 2023. It said Rebekah Stafford and Dr LaRochelle may also have been exposed during work at hospitals in Nyankunde and Bunia, though both remain asymptomatic and have been following quarantine protocols.

German media outlet Bild reported that the patient arrived in Germany wearing a protective suit and mask, and was transported by ambulance under strict biosecurity measures.

The US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said on Monday that the doctor contracted the virus following exposure related to his work in the DRC and tested positive late Sunday.

The World Health Organisation has declared the Ebola outbreak in the DRC— which has killed more than 130 people—an international health emergency. — AFP