Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) confirmed on October 1 that one of its staff members working on the Ebola response in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has tested positive for the virus and is being medically evacuated to the Netherlands under a strict medical protocol. It is the first publicly reported infection of an international aid worker in this outbreak.
In a statement issued in Geneva, MSF said: "Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) confirms that one of its staff members who had been working on the Ebola response in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has tested positive for Bundibugyo virus disease. This person is being safely evacuated under a strict medical protocol in close coordination with the relevant health authorities in the DRC and the Netherlands, where the patient will be received by a designated hospital."
According to Reuters, the patient will be admitted to a specialist isolation ward at Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC). The Dutch health ministry announced the arrangement in a letter to parliament, saying the patient would travel on a private aircraft under medical supervision and be taken directly to the hospital on arrival. LUMC, the Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, and MSF all said the hospital was prepared to receive the patient safely, with no risk to other patients or visitors.
MSF declined to disclose the worker's nationality, duty station, symptoms, or condition, citing medical confidentiality and the need to protect a colleague's privacy. The Dutch health ministry confirmed only that the patient is "an MSF doctor deployed to Congo," also refusing to reveal the nationality on privacy grounds. As of publication, neither the flight's timing nor its arrival had been confirmed.
The worker was infected with the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola virus — a rare variant for which there is currently no approved vaccine and no known specific treatment. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on September 25 that the organization was accelerating clinical trials of vaccines and therapies against the strain.
This is the largest Ebola outbreak in the DRC's history. According to the DRC health ministry's public health institute, as of September 26, a total of 8,067 confirmed cases and 3,901 deaths had been recorded across 63 health zones in seven of the country's 26 provinces, with a fatality rate above 48 percent. WHO's own count (as of September 23) stands at 7,890 confirmed cases and 3,799 deaths. On either count, the outbreak has surpassed the 2018–2020 epidemic to become the deadliest in Congolese history, second only to the 2014–2016 West Africa outbreak.
Health workers are among the most at-risk groups. According to the Africa CDC, 50 health workers have died since the outbreak was declared. The Associated Press reported on September 28 that Congolese health workers have repeatedly gone on strike over unpaid and delayed wages, further straining an already stretched response. Ituri province is the epicenter with 6,032 confirmed cases; in late September the virus reached two additional health zones, prompting WHO to warn of cross-border transmission risks.
A WHO official said on September 29 that oxygen was "unavailable or unreliable" in many health facilities, while conflict and population displacement were hampering contact tracing. The evacuation of this MSF worker is both an individual medical rescue and a sign that the outbreak, now in its fifth month, remains out of control. "Despite MSF providing training and the highest level of protection to our staff, we recognize that the risk of exposure can never be fully eliminated," MSF said in its statement.