The only American known to contract Ebola in the ongoing outbreak in Africa has returned to the United States.
Dr. Peter Stafford, a medical missionary with the Christian organization Serge who contracted Ebola while caring for patients in Congo in May, arrived in Pennsylvania with his wife, Dr. Rebekah Stafford, and their four children, Serge said on June 15.
“I am filled with gratitude to God for preserving my life, to all those who prayed on my behalf, and to the many medical providers who cared for me,” Stafford said in a statement. “I am feeling well and thankful to be reunited with Rebekah and the kids. Our prayers continue for those in Congo who are facing this devastating epidemic and for the ongoing efforts to control the disease.”
Stafford was working at Nyankunde Hospital in Bunia in northeastern Congo when he tested positive for Ebola, a disease that can cause severe problems and death.
He and his family, none of whom tested positive or showed symptoms, were flown to a hospital in Berlin, Germany, for treatment and monitoring.
Stafford has said that he was worried he was going to die before being transported to the hospital and receiving treatment.
That included “two intravenous treatments designed to improve Ebola outcomes,” according to Dr. Scott Myhre, Serge’s director for east and central Africa.
The Bundibugyo virus, which is behind the current outbreak, has no specific approved treatments or vaccines.
Stafford was released from the hospital on June 6 and has been virus-free since May 30, according to Serge and hospital officials. He tested negative across multiple polymerase chain reaction tests.
U.S. officials declined to bring Stafford and people with him who were exposed to Ebola to the United States, stating that hospitals in Europe were closer. One doctor with Serge was flown to a hospital in the Czech Republic.
The United States later hammered out an agreement with Kenya to establish a quarantine facility there for Americans exposed to Ebola, but a court halted the plan, ruling that officials had to provide documents outlining the agreement.
U.S. officials have said they want to keep Ebola out of the United States and have issued several orders to that effect, including an order prohibiting people who aren’t Americans and who were recently in Congo, South Sudan, or Uganda from entering the country.
The outbreak has caused 808 cases in Congo and 192 deaths, according to Congo’s Ministry of Communications. It has also caused cases and several deaths in neighboring Uganda.
Additional cases and deaths have likely happened but have remained undetected, according to the World Health Organization and other groups.