An American citizen living in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has been diagnosed with Ebola amid a new outbreak in the country.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced on Monday that the individual, an American doctor affiliated with a medical missionary organization, contracted the virus through occupational exposure in the DRC.
The doctor, whose identity has not been disclosed, began experiencing Ebola symptoms. These typically include sudden fever, severe weakness, intense headaches, sore throat, and muscle and joint pain.
In response, the CDC stated that the infected American is being transported to Germany for further medical care.
Additionally, six other people are being evacuated for either treatment or monitoring, according to Satish K. Pillai, the CDC’s incident manager for the Ebola response, during a recent press conference.
The CDC also noted that approximately 25 personnel are currently working in their DRC office, and plans are underway to send an additional staff member from Atlanta to support the effort.
The CDC said it assessed the immediate risk to the general US public as low, ‘but we will continue to evaluate the evolving situation and may adjust public health measures as additional information becomes available.’
The case comes amid an outbreak of Ebola caused by the rare Bundibugyo strain, which has killed 88 people in the DRC since last month. There have been 1- confirmed cases and 336 suspected incidences. Among the dead are at least four healthcare workers.
An American working in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is being evacuated to Germany after contracting Ebola, the CDC said Monday. Pictured above is a health worker putting on protective equipment during a 2018 Ebola outbreak in the DRC
A health official is pictured screening people in front of Kibuli Muslim Hospital in Kampala, Uganda, on May 16
This is the 17th Ebola outbreak in the DRC, where the virus is endemic, since it was discovered in 1976 but only the third caused by the Bundibugyo strain.
This strain has no approved treatments or vaccines.
The CDC also announced Monday that it will increase screening and traveler monitoring for people arriving from areas affected by Ebola outbreaks and restrict non-US passport holders if they have been in Uganda, DRC or South Sudan in the past 21 days.
The agency also plans to coordinate with airlines, international partners and port-of-entry officials to identify and manage travelers who may have been exposed to Ebola.
‘CDC is also supporting interagency partners who are actively coordinating the safe withdrawal of a small number of Americans who are directly affected by this outbreak,’ the CDC said.
The CDC has issued a level 2 travel advisory for the DRC, which urges travelers to ‘practice enhanced precautions’ while in the region. These include avoiding contact with people who have symptoms such as fever, muscle pain and rash, as well as steering clear of blood and other body fluids or objects contaminated with them.
Travelers should also avoid contact with bats, forest antelopes, primates and blood, fluids or meat from these animals.
The CDC urges travelers to watch for symptoms of Ebola for 21 days after leaving the DRC.
Previous outbreaks in 2018 and 2020 in eastern Congo killed more than 1,000 people each. The largest Ebola outbreak occurred in 2014 to 2016 in West Africa when more than 28,600 cases were reported.
The strain responsible for the outbreak, Bundibugyo virus, has no targeted treatments or vaccines. A health worker is seen being disinfected after working at an Ebola treatment center in the DRC in 2018
A woman wearing a protective mask stands in the corridor of a hospital in the DRC, which is facing its 17th Ebola outbreak
A visitor is pictured washing his hands before entering Kyeshero Hospital in the DRC
The World Health Organization (WHO) has said the current outbreak does not meet the criteria of a pandemic emergency, but it is considered a ‘public health emergency of international concern.’
Countries sharing borders with DRC, such as Uganda and Rwanda, are at an increased risk of further spread.
Ebola spreads through contact with the blood or body fluids of an infected person, as well as contact with contaminated objects or infected animals such as bats or primates.
Symptoms include fever, headache, muscle pain and weakness, diarrhea, vomiting, abdominal pain and unexplained bleeding or bruising.
The mortality rate for the Bundibugyo virus ranges from 25 to 50 percent.
The Zaire strain, which is the most common form of Ebola, can be treated with the drugs Inmazeb and Ebanga and the Ervebo vaccine, which is administered only during outbreaks.
‘Unfortunately, Bundibugyo has fewer proven countermeasures than Zaire ebolavirus, where vaccines have been highly effective in controlling outbreaks,’ Amanda Rojek, Associate Professor of Health Emergencies, Pandemic Sciences Institute at the University of Oxford, said in a statement.
The WHO said Sunday that the first known suspected case, a health worker in DRC, developed symptoms on April 24. Two infected people from DRC traveled separately from each other to Kampala, the capital of neighboring Uganda, where one died.
The WHO said there is no indication of ongoing transmission in Uganda.
