WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - A U.S. citizen working for a humanitarian organization in the Democratic Republic of Congo has tested positive for the Ebola virus, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said on Friday.
The CDC said it is working with the aid organization, U.S. government agencies, Congolese health officials and other partners to stop the virus from spreading and trace people who may have been in close contact with the infected person.
The patient was admitted to Frankfurt University Hospital in Germany early on Monday. According to hospital officials, the person was taken to a special isolation unit at around 3 a.m. local time after being infected with the Bundibugyo strain of the Ebola virus in Congo.
The aid worker has been in isolation since Monday and is receiving treatment at one of the two Ebola treatment centers operated by the humanitarian organization in Ituri province, the center of the current outbreak in northeastern Congo.
The organization did not reveal the worker's identity but said he had been handling logistics in Bunia, the capital of Ituri province, for the past month. He was not directly involved in treating Ebola patients.
He is the second American to contract Ebola during the current outbreak. The first was a missionary doctor who tested positive shortly after the outbreak was officially declared on May 15 and was later flown to Germany for treatment.
The Trump administration had earlier planned to send Americans exposed to Ebola abroad to a new treatment facility in Kenya instead of bringing them back to the U.S. However, the plan has been put on hold after a Kenyan court stopped the project due to strong opposition from residents.
Earlier this week, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said this is the fastest-growing Ebola outbreak ever recorded in Africa. Congo has reported 1,830 confirmed cases and 648 deaths so far. Cases have also been confirmed in neighboring Uganda.
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