Federal health authorities confirmed Monday that an American working in the Democratic Republic of Congo has contracted Ebola, prompting the CDC and Department of Homeland Security to roll out enhanced screening measures for travelers entering the United States from the affected region.
The patient developed symptoms over the weekend and tested positive late Sunday, according to Satish K Pillai, an incident manager for the CDC's Ebola response. The individual is being evacuated to Germany for treatment.
Six additional people are also in the process of being evacuated for treatment or monitoring, officials said. The U.S. maintains about 25 employees in its office in the DRC, and the CDC is dispatching additional personnel from Atlanta to assist.
Starting immediately, the U.S. will implement entry restrictions against non-U.S. passport holders who have been in Uganda, the DRC, or South Sudan within the past 21 days. Airlines, international partners, and port-of-entry officials have been directed to identify and manage anyone who may have been exposed to the virus. Enhanced screening protocols include contact tracing, laboratory testing capacity expansion, and hospital readiness measures across the country. These measures will remain in effect for at least 30 days.
The DRC outbreak involves 10 confirmed cases, 336 suspected cases, and 88 deaths, including at least four health workers. The strain circulating is the Bundibugyo variant, which has a mortality rate between 25 and 50 percent and currently has no targeted vaccine or treatment.
This marks only the third documented outbreak of Bundibugyo strain Ebola, with previous cases identified in 2007 and 2012. The current outbreak differs from a major 2018 to 2020 epidemic in the same region that killed 2,287 people but involved the more manageable Zaire ebolavirus strain.
The World Health Organization declared a global public health emergency of international concern on Sunday following the outbreak's identification in the DRC's northeastern Ituri province, near borders with Uganda, South Sudan, and Rwanda. The first suspected case involved a health worker who developed symptoms on April 24, suggesting the virus had been circulating undetected.
Two infected individuals from the DRC traveled separately to Uganda's capital, Kampala, where one subsequently died. The WHO reported no evidence of ongoing transmission within Uganda itself.
The CDC assessed the immediate risk to the general American public as low but stated it would continue monitoring the situation and adjust measures as needed. Anyone who has traveled through affected countries should monitor CDC travel health notices and seek immediate medical attention if symptoms consistent with Ebola develop.
Author James Rodriguez: "This case represents a stark reminder that Ebola doesn't respect borders, and the deployment of rapid screening measures shows federal agencies learned hard lessons from previous outbreaks."
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