Four virus strains are known to cause Ebola disease in humans, and three have caused large-scale outbreaks (Zaire, Sudan, and Bundibugyo). The most common strain is Zaire, for which treatments and vaccines have been developed. The viruses spread from animals, including non-human primates and bats, and cause severe hemorrhagic fever, characterized by diarrhea, vomiting, and bleeding. Person-to-person spread occurs by contact with bodily fluids and symptoms can develop between two and 21 days – though most commonly eight to 10 days – after contact.
CDC response and infected Americans
On Monday morning, the CDC announced on its website that it was implementing new travel restrictions, including screening and monitoring of Americans arriving from the DRC, Uganda and South Sudan, while also barring entry to non-U.S. passport holders who have traveled to those countries in the past 21 days.
Additionally, at a CDC press briefing on Monday afternoon, Capt. Satish Pillai, incident manager for CDC’s Ebola response, said that an American in the DRC has become infected after being exposed during his work there. The man developed symptoms over the weekend and tested positive late Sunday night. The CDC is now working to transfer the man, along with six other Americans, to Germany, where they will be cared for. Pillay did not respond to questions about the man’s identity or his work.
Serge, a Christian missionary organization, announced that the infected person is Dr. Peter Stafford, who has been working at Nyankunde Hospital in Bunya, DRC since 2023. The other six people the CDC is working to relocate include his wife, Dr. Rebekah Stafford, the couple’s four children and a third doctor at the organization, Dr. Patrick Larochelle. The organization said all three doctors had the infection, but Rebekah Stafford and Larochelle are currently asymptomatic.
Pillai said the CDC considers the risk to the American public to be low.
<a href