Americans sick with Ebola ‘will go to Europe for treatment instead of US’

Americans infected with the deadly strain of Ebola will be taken to European countries for treatment instead of the US, an official has revealed.  

Concern is growing over the outbreak of deadly Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in recent weeks.  

Now an official from Trump’s administration has said that any Americans who need advanced medical care would be transported to Europe, not the US, according to NBC News.  

US officials have set up a quarantine facility in Kenya to treat American patients, and it is set to open today with 50 beds.  

This will be the first stop for the exposed Americans before they are taken to another country in Europe. The destination countries have not yet been named.  

The Trump administration has insisted that the reason for the plan is shorter flights.  

One American citizen, a surgeon who had worked in a hospital in DRC, was taken to Germany with his family after contracting Ebola.  

Dr Peter Stafford treated a person infected with Ebola unknowingly before the outbreak was noticed. His wife, also a doctor, had operated on the same patient.  

Five others who were exposed were also transported to Germany, while one patient was taken to Czechia, Reuters reports.  

The US has put stringent measures in place in a bid to prevent Ebola from spreading to the country.  

Non-citizens who have been in Congo, Uganda or South Sudan in the last 21 days are blocked from entering the US.  

Marco Rubio, the Secretary of State, said: ‘We cannot and will not allow any cases of Ebola to enter the United States.’ 

Death toll from the virus is mounting, with 223 suspected fatalities linked to the specific strain, which currently has no vaccine against it. Cases have soared to around 1,000.  

The recent outbreak of hantavirus on a cruise ship with people from dozens of countries complicated the response and where to take patients.  

MV Hondius, the hantavirus-stricken cruise ship, was eventually allowed to dock in Tenerife, which sparked a protest on the island.  

Ebola in the DRC and Uganda has been declared a health emergency by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

Efforts to tackle the outbreak in the DRC are hampered by ongoing internal conflict in the country, particularly in the eastern border regions controlled by various militias, and lack of resources.

Misinformation about the disease is also rife, which has led to violent clashes as mobs of people have forced their way into health clinics to reclaim bodies of loved ones.

The strain of Ebola behind the ongoing outbreak is known as the Bundibugyo strain. There is no vaccine, although scientists in Oxford are urgently developing one.

A vaccine for the strain could take up to nine months to create and roll out, the WHO has said.

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