The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said Tuesday that a U.S. citizen working in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) was confirmed to have Ebola virus disease, but noted that there is no immediate threat of community Ebola transmission in the U.S.
The man, whose mission organisation identified as Dr. Peter Stafford, is infected with the rare Bundibugyo strain of the virus, and got infected while working at Nyankunde Hospital in eastern Congo, where the nation is still dealing with an outbreak of the virus. Once he fell ill, he was taken to specialist treatment in a high-security isolation unit in Germany.
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CDC’s surveillance systems are functioning normally and the patient is not a public health threat in the United States, the agency said.
As containment measures step up, the agency has increased surveillance of travellers arriving from affected countries and maintains close collaboration with other countries, such as the World Health Organization.
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Currently, the outbreak began in the May of 2026, and it is one of the most severe outlooks of Ebola in recent years.
The current outbreak of the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has been spreading quickly, and is reaching parts of Uganda and neighbouring provinces, health authorities say. Sick and socially unstable conditions and population displacement have complicated the outbreak, as has the absence of an approved vaccine or specific treatment for this strain and attacks on health workers.
The CDC has, in turn, activated its emergency response up to Level 1, which mandates additional personnel and resources to be deployed to support surveillance and laboratory capacity and international coordination.
The agency repeated that effective infection control processes and monitoring of travellers are in place to help minimise any risk of international transmission.
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There’s no transmission line for Ebola. The virus is transmitted in the bodily fluids or through contaminated items of an infected person and prompt diagnosis, isolation, tracing and safe burials are the key components of interrupting the spread of the virus.
