US man discharged from German hospital after recovering from Ebola contracted in DRC
via Punch Nigeria2 min read
A US man, identified as Dr. Peter Stafford, 39, who contracted Ebola while working as a surgeon for a Christian missionary group in the Democratic Republic of Congo, has been discharged from a German hospital after 17 days of medical care. Stafford, who works for the charity Serge, reportedly operated on an Ebola patient in eastern DRC before the outbreak was officially declared on May 15. He was admitted to Charite public hospital in Berlin on May 20 with pronounced Ebola symptoms. The hospital stated that his initially high viral load decreased substantially under antiviral treatment and supportive care, with no virus detected in his system since May 30. Stafford received experimental therapies during his treatment. His wife, also a doctor, and their children were in quarantine as high-risk contacts but were also discharged in good health. The Bundibugyo strain of Ebola in the current epidemic has no approved vaccines or treatments. The World Health Organization reported 471 people infected and 84 deaths in the DRC and neighboring Uganda as of Friday. The WHO has declared an international public health emergency over the outbreak, which the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned could become the largest Ebola epidemic on record.
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