U.S. Doctor with Ebola Flown to Germany for Treatment

U.S. doctor who tested positive for the Bundibugyo ebolavirus was flown to Germany for treatment after developing symptoms while working at a hospital in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Dr Peter Stafford, a medical missionary with the Christian group Serge, had operated on a 33-year-old patient with abdominal pain days before health authorities confirmed the outbreak.

The patient died the next day and was later suspected of having Ebola. Dr Scott Myhre, the East and Central Africa area director for Serge, said Stafford looked “really sick” and “really tired” as he departed. “There were people in full - we call it PPE - the personal protective equipment, and they’re completely covered, and he’s hanging on them barely strong enough to walk,” Myhre told NBC News.

Stafford was placed in a tube-shaped plastic isolation bed for the flight, described as about the size of a casket to protect the crew. He is receiving care at Berlin’s Charite University Hospital. Stafford’s wife, Rebekah, also a doctor who treated the same patient, and the couple’s four children are being transported to the same hospital for monitoring.

Another physician, Patrick LaRochelle, is being transferred to Bulovka Hospital in Prague after exposure to a second patient.

The outbreak, centered in Ituri province, has been declared a public health emergency of international concern by the WHO. The agency reports 600 suspected cases and 139 suspect deaths. The Bundibugyo virus has caused previous outbreaks with case fatality rates between 30 and 50 percent. It is closely related to the Zaire ebolavirus responsible for the 2013-2016 West African epidemic.