Second US Ebola patient brought to Germany for treatment

Isolation and Protective Measures

His wife and his four children also came to the Charité as "high-risk contacts," but had no symptoms and were quarantined in a separate section of the ward. In Germany, patients are placed in special isolation wards. These are a closed, protected unit separated from regular hospital operations, so that contact with other patients can be ruled out.

According to the Federal Ministry of Health, there is therefore no danger to the population or to other patients. Prof. Dr. Thorsten Feldt, an infectious disease specialist, stated: "Das Risiko für die Bevölkerung in Deutschland ist sehr gering". Airborne transmission is considered impossible.

The virus is transmitted through direct contact with bodily fluids of infected people or deceased persons — such as blood, saliva, or vomit. Initial symptoms include fever, weakness, headaches, and muscle pain. Later, diarrhea, vomiting, and internal bleeding may occur.

Transmission and Disease Progression

In children, Ebola can lead to death "very rapidly," said Charité physician Leif Erik Sander at the time, Director of the Department of Infectious Diseases and Intensive Care Medicine. Ebola fever is a contagious and life-threatening disease. Ebola is a severe viral illness that is frequently fatal.

For the Bundibugyo strain, there is currently neither a vaccine nor a specific therapy. Special aircraft are normally used for transporting Ebola patients.

First Case in Europe and Outbreak in Africa

At the end of June, the Bundibugyo virus had been detected in Europe for the first time. In France, a doctor of a humanitarian organization who had returned from eastern Congo tested positive. According to the French Ministry of Health, the man was isolated immediately after his arrival. At the beginning of July, he was discharged from the hospital after negative tests and without symptoms.

In Congo in Central Africa, where the two infected American doctors were working, the latest Ebola outbreak is particularly difficult to contain. According to health experts, case numbers have risen faster in no previous Ebola outbreak than in the current epidemic. In Congo, there are now around 650 confirmed deaths, and at least 1,830 people have been or are infected.

During the most severe Ebola epidemic to date in West Africa in 2014 and 2015, more than 11,000 people died. Even then, three Ebola patients were brought to Germany for treatment: a doctor from Uganda was treated in Frankfurt, a man from Senegal in Hamburg; a UN employee who was treated in Leipzig did not survive the disease.