Four virus strains are known to cause Ebola disease in humans and three have caused large 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. Human-to-human transmission occurs through contact with bodily fluids and symptoms can develop between two and 21 days, although most commonly between eight and 10 days, after an exposure.
CDC response and infected Americans
On Monday morning, the CDC announced on its website that it is implementing new travel restrictionsincluding screening and tracking Americans arriving from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda and South Sudan, while banning the entry of non-U.S. passport holders who have traveled to those countries in the past 21 days.
Additionally, at a CDC news conference Monday afternoon, Capt. Satish Pillai, incident director for the CDC’s Ebola response, said an American in the Democratic Republic of the Congo became infected after being exposed as part of his work there. The person developed symptoms over the weekend and tested positive on Sunday night. The CDC is now working to transport that person, along with six other Americans, to Germany, where they will receive care. Pillai did not answer questions about the person’s identity or his job.
Serge, a Christian missionary organization, announced that the infected person is Dr. Peter Staffordwho has been working at Nyankunde Hospital in Bunia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, since 2023. The six other people the CDC is working to relocate are his wife, Dr. Rebekah Stafford, the couple’s four children, and a third doctor at the organization, Dr. Patrick LaRochelle. All three doctors were exposed, the organization said, but Rebekah Stafford and LaRochelle are currently asymptomatic.
Pillai noted that the CDC considers the risk to the American public to be low.
