A Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) doctor has contracted the Ebola Bundibugyo virus in the Democratic Republic of Congo and is being evacuated to the Netherlands. The patient will undergo treatment in strict isolation at the University Medical Center in Leiden. The infection occurs during Congo's largest and deadliest Ebola outbreak on record, which has surpassed 8,000 confirmed cases and caused 3,901 deaths, highlighting the persistent risks faced by healthcare workers despite extensive protective measures.
Infection of MSF doctor
- ▪Médecins Sans Frontières stated that despite extensive protective measures and personal protective equipment for staff, the risk of Ebola exposure can never be completely eliminated
- ▪A Médecins Sans Frontières staff doctor working on the Ebola response in the Democratic Republic of Congo contracted the Ebola Bundibugyo virus
Evacuation and treatment in the Netherlands
- ▪The infected Médecins Sans Frontières doctor is being evacuated from the Democratic Republic of Congo to the Netherlands under a strict medical protocol in coordination with Congolese and Dutch health authorities
- ▪The Dutch health ministry confirmed in a letter to parliament that the evacuated Médecins Sans Frontières doctor will be treated under strict isolation at the University Medical Center in Leiden, Netherlands
Médecins Sans Frontières response
- ▪Médecins Sans Frontières is actively supporting the Ebola response across Ituri, North Kivu, Tshopo, and Haut-Uélé provinces in the Democratic Republic of Congo
- ▪Médecins Sans Frontières doctors treat a patient inside the Kitatumba Ebola treatment center as aid agencies intensify efforts to contain the outbreak
Scale of the Ebola outbreak
- ▪The current Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo is second in scale only to the 2014-2016 West African outbreak, which infected over 28,600 people and killed over 11,000
- ▪The current Ebola Bundibugyo outbreak is the largest and deadliest on record in the Democratic Republic of Congo, surpassing the country's 2018-2020 epidemic
- ▪The current Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo, caused by the Bundibugyo strain, has reached 8,067 confirmed cases and 3,901 deaths as of September 28, 2026
Debatable claims
- ▪Evacuating Ebola-infected aid workers to Western nations is justified
- ▪Humanitarian groups should not deploy staff to outbreaks where exposure risk cannot be eliminated
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