Photo Credit: Getty Images
An American medical missionary worker has tested positive for Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo, U.S. officials announced on Monday. The individual, who was exposed while working with a missionary group, began showing symptoms over the weekend. According to Dr. Satish Pillai of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the patient is currently being evacuated to Germany for specialized medical treatment.
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 said.
The CDC said it is working to evacuate at least six other Americans who were exposed.
The medical missionary group, Serge, said on Monday that one of its American doctors, Peter Stafford, had tested positive for Ebola after being exposed while treating patients at Nyankunde Hospital in Bunia in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Two other doctors from the group who were exposed while treating patients, including Stafford's wife, do not have symptoms and are following quarantine protocols, the group said in a statement.
Also on Monday, the CDC issued a new order blocking foreign travelers from entering the US if they have visited a country affected by the outbreak in the past 21 days, including the 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 emphasized that the risk to the American public remains low.
The CDC is sending staff from Atlanta to the epicenter of the outbreak to help with the response.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the outbreak an international emergency.
