A second US citizen infected with Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo has been admitted to a German hospital. The patient, carrying the Bundibugyo variant, arrived at Frankfurt University Hospital's special isolation unit in stable condition. This comes as Congo's outbreak has now reached 1,926 confirmed cases and 702 deaths, spreading to two new provinces.
A second US citizen infected with Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has been flown to Germany for treatment. The patient — infected with the Bundibugyo variant of the Ebola virus — was admitted to Frankfurt University Hospital's specialized isolation unit in the early hours of Monday, July 13, and is reported to be in stable condition. Hospital officials confirmed there is no risk to the public or other patients, as the individual is being treated in a unit structurally and organizationally separated from the rest of the facility.
This latest case follows a similar incident in May, when US medical missionary Dr. Peter Stafford contracted Ebola while treating patients in the DRC and was admitted to Berlin's Charité hospital. He was successfully discharged in June after combined antiviral therapy and supportive care — with none of his five family members, who had been quarantined as high-risk contacts, showing signs of infection.
By the Numbers:
Why it matters: The DRC's Ebola outbreak is rapidly expanding in both scale and geography, and the evacuation of two US citizens to European hospitals within weeks of each other underscores the virus's global reach. As cases spread to new provinces, the international community faces mounting pressure to contain what is becoming one of the more serious Ebola outbreaks in recent years.
