American who contracted Ebola in DR Congo evacuated for treatment

An American tested positive for Ebola after being exposed while working with a medical missionary group in the Democratic Republic of Congo, US officials say.

The US national was being evacuated to Germany for treatment after developing symptoms over the weekend, said Dr Satish Pillai, Ebola response incident manager with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

At least 100 deaths have been reported in an Ebola outbreak in the DR Congo, with more than 390 cases suspected, the head of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention told the BBC.

The US CDC said it was working to evacuate at least six other Americans who were exposed.

The agency did not identify the American working in DR Congo who had been stricken with the virus on Sunday.

But medical missionary group Serge said later on Monday that one of its US doctors, Peter Stafford, had tested positive for Ebola.

He was exposed while treating patients at Nyankunde Hospital in Bunia, where he has worked since 2023, said the charity.

Two others doctors from the group who were exposed while treating patients, including Stafford's wife, Dr Rebekah Stafford, did not have symptoms and were following quarantine protocols, the group said in a statement.

Serge said the Staffords and their four young children were in a location where they can undergo risk monitoring and receive specialised medical care.

The Staffords met in medical school at Ohio State University and wed in 2013, according to Serge.

Peter specialises in general surgery and Rebekah's expertise is in obstetrics and gynaecology, said the charity in an online profile.

The couple first moved in 2019 to Africa, where they also worked in Togo.

• What is Ebola and why is stopping this outbreak so difficult?

The CDC issued a new order on Monday blocking foreign travellers from entering the US if they have visited a country affected by the outbreak in the past 21 days, including DR Congo, Uganda and South Sudan.

The agency invoked Title 42, a law that temporarily bans noncitizens from coming to the US for public health reasons.

CDC officials emphasised that the risk to the American public remained low. The CDC is sending staff from Atlanta to the epicentre of the outbreak to help with the response.

President Donald Trump said on Monday he was "concerned" by the outbreak in DR Congo, but added he believed it had not spread to the US.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the outbreak an international emergency.

The current strain of Ebola is caused by the Bundibugyo virus, for which there are no approved drugs or vaccines.

The WHO has said the outbreak in DR Congo's eastern Ituri province is a public health emergency of international concern, but did not meet the criteria of a pandemic.

The agency also warned it could potentially be "a much larger outbreak" than what is currently being detected and reported, with significant risk of local and regional spread.

More than 28,600 people were infected by Ebola during the 2014-16 outbreak in West Africa, the largest outbreak of the virus since its discovery in 1976.

The disease spread to a number of countries within and outside of West Africa, including Guinea, Sierra Leone, the US, UK and Italy, killing 11,325 people.

Ebola viruses normally infect animals, typically fruit bats, but outbreaks among humans can sometimes start when people eat or handle infected animals.

It takes two to 21 days for symptoms to appear. They come on suddenly and start like the flu, with fever, headache and tiredness.